


The Future Is Not Set In Stone

by Justarandomsomebody



Series: The future is not set in stone [1]
Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Quirks (My Hero Academia), Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Bakugou Katsuki is a Good Friend, Crossover, Detective Suika, F/M, Gen, Genius Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku Adopts Eri, Midoriya Izuku Has One for All Quirk, My First Fanfic, Post-Apocalypse, Pro Hero Yaoyorozu Momo, Protective Yaoyorozu Momo, Smart Midoriya Izuku, Smart Yaoyorozou Momo, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:14:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22985389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justarandomsomebody/pseuds/Justarandomsomebody
Summary: That day all the humans around the turned into stone.Sir Nighteye hung his head in despair. "Why don't you get it! All of humanity was supposed to die. You can't expect to just change the future". Everyone looked at Izuku as he stood facing the morning sun, it's lighting up half of his face."I don't care what you saw. If there is a future like that, then I will twist it, change it. How, I don't know yet. But one thing is for sure, I will save the entire human race, whatever it takes!"
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku, Chrome/Ruri (Dr. STONE), Eri & Midoriya Izuku, Eri & Yaoyorozu Momo, Midoriya Inko/Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Midoriya Izuku & Shinsou Hitoshi, Midoriya Izuku & Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Midoriya Izuku/Yaoyorozu Momo
Series: The future is not set in stone [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1651876
Comments: 22
Kudos: 57





	1. A New Hope

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic, please don't be harsh.
> 
> For those who read my previous work (same title), I accidentally deleted it. Then I thought why don't I use this opportunity to change the story. It picks up after Izuku's death. The plot before it will be explained through flashbacks.
> 
> Thanks to the skillful editing of Amawabiki18, I can safely say that the quality of chapters has improved.
> 
> Enjoy!  
> (I don't own either Dr Stone or My Hero Academia, they belong to their respective authors and artists)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never noticed there were so many grammatical in the first chapter!
> 
> But now with Amawahibiki18's skillful editing in place, just enjoy the chapter!

Two young boys made their way through the forest. The first was a blonde with red eyes and a near permanent scowl. The other was a green haired youth with emerald eyes and a spray of freckles on each cheek. They walked in pregnant silence, broken by an occasional tweet or trilling. It was early afternoon after all.

“So, where are we going?” the blonde, named Bakugou, asked. He knew his friend had a plan in mind, but whatever it was, he didn’t have clue. They had already sent Taiju and Yuzuriha as spies into the Empire of Might so there was no turning back.

“When you and Taiju were gone, we saw three smoke signals. I believe the one nearest to the coast might hold some promise” Izuku replied. How Izuku was still not pissed, Bakugou didn’t understand. Tsukasa had literally killed him. Had it not been for the petrified piece on his neck, he would have gone to La La Land.

They picked their way through the foliage, making sure not to leave a trail. They slid down the cliff leaving loose rocks in his wake. They didn’t know whether the people who contacted them were hostile or not. Regardless it was in their best interest to remain cautious.

BOOM!

They heard the distinct boom of Tsukasa’s quirk activating, bringing back memories….

  
  
  


Izuku watched as Tsukasa impaled the fish with his spear. The skin of the lion, which Tsukasa had killed to save them hung around his shoulders. After a lot of testing, Izuku realized that the skin made one virtually impenetrable. It was strong enough to withstand Katsuki’s explosions and Taiju’s punches at point blank range.

Maybe Izuku was wrong. He shouldn’t fear this man, he had saved them after all. Izuku was lost in thought. Maybe he should build a water tank next, with Tsukasa’s quirk they could easily refill it. Or maybe he should focus on-

Izuku’s thoughts were interrupted by a resounding crack.

Izuku looked up to see a statue, with its broken arm in Tsukasa’s hands. The logical side of his brain did a victory dance. It was just how he had thought it would be.

Shishiou Tsukasa was dangerous.

“I hope you know exactly what you are doing Shishiou Tsukasa” Izuku called out. “I am tired of hiding my intentions from everyone Izuku” he said as he crushed the statue’s arms like ants.

  
  


“The stone world is a chance for us to recreate humanity. Everything is inherently free in nature, why not allow it to be so instead of being held back by chains of society?” he continued “Only pure hearted youth should be brought back to this untainted world” he drew his arm back for a punch.

Only for another to stop him.

“I am sorry but as a scientist and a hero-to-be, I can’t agree even one millimeter with you.”

  
  
  


Kohaku respected heroic people. There was a story within the 100 stories about an ‘Ishigami’, someone who would sacrifice himself to save everyone else. No one in their village even came close to it except, maybe Kinrou. So when she saw the mountains’ wrath, she decided to investigate. And guess what she saw? She saw a green haired boy being killed by the madman.

Only for a blonde to blast the man in his back.

The blast was well aimed, meant to only injure, not kill. However, somehow, the explosion moved to hit the boy instead. She watched till the other girl came to the fallen boy’s rescue while a brown haired boy and the blonde fought against the crazy man.

She watched as the boys summoned the mountain’s wrath with the black powder, only to beat a hasty retreat. But this opportunity allowed her to witness the group. The barrel of water she carried grew heavier.

‘They have to be sorcerers.’ She thought. Maybe if she could get them on her side, they could find a cure for Ruri. The possibilities were endless. Maybe she could finally save her sisters life. But that was only possible if the sorcerers survived. She also withdrew, to make sure that the sorcerers reached safety.

. .

Tsukasa clenched his fist tightening his hold on his spear. So far he had hunted animals in a group, where even if he messed up others would cover for him. But now he was all alone. He had just committed murd-

He shook his head. No amount of remorse could undo his deeds. He will just have to dirty his hands for a just world. Not because he wanted to, because he was forced to. Almost against his will. But in this stone world he was free. Maybe- no, no, no, damn it.

He still had to follow his plan, to make sure everyone and everything went without a hitch.

  
  


Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, a blonde woman appeared in front of him. She held a bouquet of flowers. But that was not what puzzled him. Who was she? What was she doing here? Did Izuku free her?

No, Izuku was dead so maybe the others freed her. But they didn’t have the revival fluid. So maybe there was another means? Tsukasa, however didn’t have much time to ask any questions as the girl charged him, daggers held high. He deflected her attacks with his spear easily but the girl continued to attack.

He pinned her to the ground with his quirk, increasing the pressure on her slowly. “Who are you?” He asked, simple and to the point. To his surprise the girl vanished into smoke. “You dare to ask me after you killed the noble sorcerer?”

Sorcerer?!

He made a highly pressurized bubble around himself as the girl attacked from behind him. As soon as her knife connected, it burst, sending her flying backwards. This girl was not from the depetrified era or else he would have heard of her skill. She was also primitive. Her belief that Izuku engaged in sorcery cemented that. No one from their time would consider gunpowder and explosions  _ sorcery _ .

Tsukasa sent her flying into the trees once again, only for her to vanish again.

He turned around at the last second as another one rushed from behind. Clone or not, Tsukasa could not take a risk. He increased the pressure behind his elbow and punched her gut. She hung there, midair as Tsukasa kept up the pressure. He continued to punch her until she coughed blood.

Then she disappeared.

**"Don't underestimate me!"**

Tsukasa was shocked before he regained his bearings. This girl could simply create disposable clones of herself. It probably took time to make a durable clone. He leaned back a little and slammed his spear into every body that came his way. All of them simply disappeared on contact. A few made past his defenses, but they were harmless smoke after all.

Tsukasa waited in the silent forest as he felt a bead of sweat roll down his neck. Then the ground rumbled

“What in-”

Tsukasa was cut off by a left hook. After distracting him with the clones, she dug a hole beneath him and expected to knock him out with this hell of a left hook. However he was not to be underestimated.

  
  


He kicked her in the gut sending her sprawling towards a tree. He pinned her down with the air pressure, now sure that she was the real one, while he nursed his jaw. “If you want to live, answer my questions truthfully” he said clinically as he walked towards her. The girl coughed blood. “Not on… my... life” she said as the pressure increased.

Then there was no room for negotiations. “In that case, this is goodbye”. He snapped the tree behind her and watched as she was crushed by it.

  
  
  


Izuku’s heart thumped in his ears. Being killed yourself was one thing, but watching someone else be put in the same danger was entirely different. Katsuki and Izuku ran over at the sound of the blast, worried about their friends. They saw a blonde girl lying under a tree, not moving at all. Izuku nearly thought she was dead, but before he could voice it she spoke.

“Aren’t you the sorcerer, that got killed?” She asked as Izuku and Bakugou ran over to her. “Don’t talk! Are you fine? If not, then we can probably risk blowing it up”. The girl stared at him for a second before she answered “Yes, my bones and organs are fine, I will live” Izuku sighed. The initial pressure was off.

Izuku got down to work. The log weighed roughly a ton. So a compound pulley and his 70 kg frame should be more than enough. He set to work without a second to lose. He cut down three discs and made a groove over them. With Bakugo’s help and one of the girl’s clones, he finished the task in 2 hours.

Izuku tied the ropes around the tree trunk as the girl lay there on the ground with a dreamy look on her face.

“My name is Kohaku, and I think I really,  _ really _ , like you.”

One beat, two beats, three beats,... too many beats of silence followed the girl’s statement.

Bakugou looked at her with his lips curled up and both the eyebrows raised. He leaned away from her while Izuku’s face was turning more and more red. Steam poured out of his ears and he was stuttering something incoherent. “Oi, Deku, don’t die on me, wake up!” Bakugou screamed as he shook him by the shoulders.

**1 Hour Later**

Kohaku didn’t trust them. Even though they saved her life, she knew nothing about these boys. The blonde one had already gone to sleep while Izuku kindled the fire. “Kohaku-san, why don’t you get some sleep? I can kindle the fire”. Was this kid stupid? But then Kohaku’s greatest nightmare occurred.

  
  
  


The kid started mumbling.

‘Maybe Kohaku-san you have insomnia. But you don’t show it’s symptoms. Maybe it is some other sleeping disorder. Or maybe it's due to your quirk. But your quirk gives you clones. Maybe it is just another part of it. MumbleMubleMumble…’. Kohaku sweat dropped. “Deku, DEKU!” she screamed to get his attention. She sighed, maybe she should just sleep.

She leaned against the tree and fell asleep in an instant, the day’s events catching up. This left Izuku to his own devices. His mind wandered to when it all began…

  
  
  


That day all of humanity turned into stone.

Izuku stood near the edge of the rooftop trying to recover his breath. He had just felt his life flash before his eyes. He stood up on shaky legs, he had to ask. “All Might, please just answer this one question” Izuku called out. He was not going to let his efforts go to waste. He didn’t hitch this ride for nothing.

“Can I be…”

He lowered his head “... a hero…”

He felt his nails dig into his palm “... without a quirk?”

He was met with silence and nearly expected All Might to be gone. But what All Might spoke next was totally out of context and unexpected.

“What is this light?”

** Dr Stone ost: Turned into Stone **

**“** What is happening?”/ “Is this paralysis?”/ “Mom! Dad!”/ “ Take care of the kids”/ “Is the cerebral infarct?”

.

.

.

.

  
  


.

“Is this death?”

All Might picked up Izuku, and jumped off the rooftops, trying to outrun the wave. But it was already too late. Izuku could feel his insides leave him for the second time that day as All Might accelerated far more than he should have. Everything seemed to slow down as All Might suddenly tripped. Stone crept up from his heel as they tumbled off the skyscraper. However All Might was going to save at least one person before his death. Izuku was suddenly flung into the next skyscraper as All Might turned into stone.

The last thing Izuku saw was All Might’s frozen, petrified face.


	2. The dawn of the iron age

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okaaay.... So I was inspired by Naruto. Tell me more about what Naruto stuff you want in the comment section.

“Kohaku-san?” Izuku asked as she dipped the jar in the hot spring. “Hmm?” Her concentration was devoted entirely to the task of not burning her hands. “Why do you require this hot water? You are extremely healthy,as it is.” Izuku was genuinely curious. These hot water springs had dissolved minerals, useful for many purposes. So why did she require it?

“Oh! Well, it is for my sister. Honestly she is a bother… due to her condition, she can rarely do anything. Besides, it has the correct weight. So it is now a part of my daily training, so it is a win-win I suppose”. So the water was used for healing. Katsuki took the jar and pushed Kohaku to the side. He dipped it till his forearms were in the boiling water. Kohaku looked genuinely startled.

Even Izuku was startled. This was a first, Katsuki going out of his way for anyone other than Izuku. “What the hell are you dumbasses staring at?” He snapped “We need to get things done faster, if you don’t remember”. Izuku and Kohaku wisely shook their heads. Who would like to get on the bad side of Katsuki?

Kohaku was about to take the jar from Katsuki when he said “You are already injured. I can carry it.”. His voice had lost it’s usual aggression. Kohaku seemed to appreciate the gesture and took the lead with Izuku bringing up the rear. He was genuinely shocked. This was the first time Katsuki had gone out of his way for anyone. Just what the hell was going on?!

Whatever it was, his brain did not seem to appreciate his concerns. Since the area was unknown, he might as well search it for that one person he was looking for. He peered at every face as they passed. If he found that person, they would never have to go without resources again. The person was like a cheat code against the Empire of Might. With them on their side, he could effectively revive anyone. Thankfully, if even he messed up, he had enough revival fluid for another one. If only she was nearby……

“THERE SHE IS!”

Izuku ran over to the statue of the girl they were looking for. Though calling it a statue was really generous, Izuku didn’t know whether all her body parts were intact or not. Her head was sticking up from the ground, almost as if she had been beheaded. Izuku knelt down on the ground and dug around her carefully while Katsuki and Kohaku rushed over. “What are you doing?” Kohaku asked. Izuku was about to reply but held his tongue. She didn’t have any idea so it was probably stupid for her and if he did start explaining, it would take all day.

“This woman is going to save us all” he replied. Katsuki was already hard at work, pulling the statue out of its prison. Both the boys grunted as they pulled the statue out, seriously why was it so damn hard. They fell backwards as it suddenly pulled free and sat back panting. “I don’t understand what you all are doing, but explain it to me, how are we carrying it back. Izuku looked at his options. He could either revive her here, but they didn’t have clothes. He could carry her, but it would only slow them down. He could also leave her there, but the risk of losing her to Tsukasa was too great.

“Oi, Deku” Katsuki asked “Who the hell is she?”. Izuku turned around with a rare smirk. “Don’t you know about Momo Yaoyorozu, the creative hero?”

_____________________________________

“WHOOOOOHOOOOOOO!”

Katsuki howled as they rode Izuku’s cart. “I can’t even imagine you can actually build this” Kohaku shouted over the wind. “Well, trust me, he can build way more,” Katsuki answered over the wind. Izuku switched lanes on Kohaku’s directions and felt his insides leave him. “You see that island?” Kohaku shouted “That is where our village is”. Izuku glimpsed an island connected to the mainland by a suspension bridge before it hid behind the trees again.

“Kacchan '' Izuku shouted “We need the brakes”. Katsuki raised his hands and released a small explosion, significantly lowering their speed as they stopped in front of the village gates. “This is my village” Kohaku proclaimed proudly as she gestured to the three islands connected by the suspension bridges. “How many people live over here” Izuku asked. “I have forgotten the exact number, but I think there are over 40 people aside from the children”. From his conversations with Kohaku, Izuku knew that the people of the village were primitive.

But who set up this village in the first place? Did someone like him discover the petrification formula? Or was there another way? These people didn’t have even a tiny amount of technology. Maybe they were descendants of the revived people? Maybe some people didn’t get petrified. With quirks, anything was possible. But inbreeding would have killed them.

“Deku ''. A heavy hand landed on his shoulders “You are mumbling”. Izuku gave him a sheepish smile. There was only one guy who he could trust to help him protect his dignity. But whatever he said was true. The very existence of this village should not be possible. The Egyptian and the European royal families were a testament to this fact. This mystery ranked second on his list, right below the mystery of petrification.

BOOM!

CLANG!

At that moment, when he was lost in thought, two blurs attacked him. Only for Katsuki to blast them along with Kohaku disarming them. “Kinrou, Ginrou, stop attacking us, these men saved my life!” Kohaku commanded. Two golems which were seemingly made of gold and silver stood in their way, ready to attack at a moment's notice. “You know the rules Kohaku, no outsider can enter the village,rules are rules” the golden one fixed them with an angry glare. Meanwhile, Katsuki was radiating a pure death aura.

“You fucking bastards. Listen up. Touch a hair on their head. I will fucking kill you.”

Each sentence was punctuated by a blast. Everybody was on an edge right now, not knowing what to do. Until Izuku broke the silence.

“Wow, you all make p-pretty good s-scary faces” he said as he took out his bar of soap. He dipped his fingers in the still hot barrel as he proceeded to rub his fingers against the bar.

“Sorcery!”/ “Get ready Ginrou!”/ “I don’t wanna die!”

Izuku blew bubbles.

What he didn’t know was that the humble bubbles were harbingers of death and destruction in the village’s lore. The infamous ‘Exploding Bubbles’ technique of Kokuyo was what had once destroyed the entire village to the ground. “My god, how can he use this technique?” Kinrou said as he stepped back. He poked the bubble that came too close, only resulting in splitting in two. “So that is the level they are at” Katsuki deadpanned. He was so let down by his opponents, that he nearly lost the will to fight.

All was lost for the village guard. Until Ginrou decided to become serious. “Since you are not holding back, neither will I” he said as a shadow fell over his face. Finally a good challenge. Katsuki felt his blood rage as he felt a good fight coming up.

“Secret technique - Call someone else for help!”

He ran away towards the coast. “Oi, Chrome! There is a sorcerer here to fight you, show us your worth!”. “Chrome?” Izuku asked. “Right! I forgot to tell you, there is another guy like you here in the village, he calls himself a sorcerer and is kinda like you” Kohaku replied. Izuku was about to say something when he was interrupted. “Don’t be scared Ginrou, I saw the bubbles over from the coast. These are just cheap imitations you can also get from charcoal lye” the newcomer said as he went about popping the bubbles.

Izuku was startled. This was a fact not known to the villagers. Did this guy learn all this himself? If he combined whatever he had ever learned with his quirk, they might be useless against him. But Kohaku didn’t consider him a threat, so maybe he might as well be useless. “We were not scared, it merely surprised us, it was outside the range of our knowledge” Kinrou replied. If he was being honest, he had nearly run away right then and there. “I was honestly scared to death” Ginrou admitted.

“Oi, I am Chrome, and I am a sorcerer. As a sorcerer I challenge you to a duel.” The newcomer proclaimed. “As a sorcerer, I can’t back down from a challenge.”. “Yeah, and he is a scientist” Katsuki said with a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. ‘Damn, I hope they don’t destroy half of the forest’ Ginrou thought, scared out of his wits.

**20 Minutes Later**

“Damn Chrome, how much time did it take you to collect all this?!” Izuku was amazed. He honestly couldn’t believe his luck. He cheated death, his friends were revived, and now he had an entire storehouse of minerals that would have probably killed them to gather. But they wouldn't have to do that considering the fact they had the ‘queen of materials’ on their side, but that was not the point. He could see galena, cinnabar, coal, philosopher’s stone. Oh! Thank god Katsuki made that bet!

“Of course, you may have bested me in my- ahem, I may not be in my best form, but no one can beat me in a collection” Chrome boasted with his eyes shining. “No shit” Katsuki said, he did have his fair share of a science education from Izuku. “I don’t get it, why are they getting excited over rocks?” Kohaku deadpanned. “Either way, enjoy the spoils of war, I need to deliver the water to my sister” and with that the lioness moved out.

“And there are herbs, Aderfly, Daylily, Canker root… aren't these Chinese medicines?” Izuku asked. Why did he collect these? It didn’t make sense. Chrome’s mood fell as his eyes took on a distant look. “Yeah, although I was never quite sure whether or not they would work, I was the only one crazy enough to try them on myself. I just thought, maybe I can save her life, and just learn enough to save her.The reason I became a sorcerer was to cure Ruri’s illness. That is why I collected all sorts of materials.” Izuku understood the sentiment. It was similar to his own predicament.

They were trying to overcome impossible odds using unconventional methods. Izuku was using science to be a hero, while Chrome was stumbling in the dark with arms outstretched. Katsuki gazed at the sky ‘Look at all this Tsukasa, you tried to reset science, but what you don’t understand is that there will always be an idiot among the shiny monkeys, who will always try to figure things out. Science will always rise, no matter how hard you try.’

“Izuku, is there a way to save through sorcery, err… science to save Ruri?” Chrome asked. Now Izuku understood why Kohaku had led him to the village. Maybe, now Ruri had some hope, with Izuku on their side. And he was going to save her. Heroes don’t turn their back on people in need, now do they? “Of course there is. We just need some clothes” Izuku said with the most innocent smile possible.

“Clothes?”

Kohaku’s old clothing, along with Kohaku herself were present. Kohaku gladly took the task of fitting the clothes over the girl upon herself (‘Kohaku-san, c-c-can you please fit these c-c-clothes over that statue?’). And now as they stood in front of the statue, Izuku spoke. “Okay everyone, I believe it is time I tell you the truth behind these statues.” He took a deep breath “over 3000 years ago, a green light washed over the earth and everyone turned into stone. You see these statues? These are very real people, still slumbering inside. And my mission is to free everyone, the entire 7 billion population of the world.” And then he poured the revival fluid over the statue as they watched the magic unfold.

The liquid flowed down the statue and settled into its niches and cracks. It stood that way for a heartbeat and Izuku felt a bead of sweat roll down his neck. Maybe only they could be revived? And then it cracked. The stone fragments broke apart as the girl came out free. “Everyone I would like you to meet Momo Yaoyorozou, the girl who can create anything”

_____________________________________

Momo was having a weird dream. A green light had washed over the earth and then there was darkness. No that really happened. She saw a crack of light expand as the sound of something cracking filled the air around her. The sound of birds chirping was heard. How long was it since all this had happened. Well, let's see. She counted till an year passed, then she fell asleep. But how long has passed since then? The crack grew and burst open and saw the first human she had seen in over a long time.

He had green hair, a slightly defined jawline and wore an animal’s skin like a cloak. He had buttoned it down with some crude buttons, but a peek under the cloak showed that he was ripped. He also had some gaps in his skin - maybe due to a quirk? - in the shape of a swirl on the back of his hands. The other kid was a red eyed blonde. He stood with a scowl on his face, and also had similar gaps. Maybe they were brothers? The gaps were running along his arms, swirling like vines or a tornado, ending at his elbows. The other blonde was a girl who was about her age and a brown haired kid stood behind them.

“Where am I?” She asked, completely confused. “It is okay, there was an accident, and now you are over 3700 years in the future. The current year is 5939 AD and it would be nice if you can help us out.” The green haired boy replied with a smile.

__________________________________

Momo was taking the news quite well. Izuku had expected her to have a panic attack or something, but she seemed to be quite well. They all were seated in Chrome’s hut, with Momo having a towel wrapped around her, well the leather version either way. As Izuku had told the story of his awakening along with that of Taiju and Katsuki, the attack of Tsukasa, his murder and now till this point, she had remained silent and was quietly sipping tea. With Izuku finished, they all looked at her expectantly.

She set the glass down on the ground and said “ I don’t get it, when I first met Tsukasa, he was not at all like this. He was a soft spoken and shy boy. I had never even expected him to be a martial artist, let alone a murderer. I am pretty sure there is something more behind all this” she put her thumb in front of her mouth as she pondered.

For Izuku this information was a lot to take in. Tsukasa had never been like this before, so why this sudden change in behaviour? Maybe it was the survivor's guilt? But he didn’t show any other symptoms. ‘The mystery just gets deeper and deeper’ he thought. Momo stood up “I don’t know what happened, but I believe that if Tsukasa is murdering people, he needs to be stopped. You have my assistance to make whatever materials required”. Chrome was the first to freak out.

“So she can make anything?! Damn that is an awesome power” his eyes were lit like a child on a christmas morning. Izuku smiled “Well yeah, her powers are the perfect cheat code in the stone world.'' Her dress was the biggest Kohaku had. It reached till her knees and was tied around her waist by a rope. Her ‘petrification marks’ was a single thin gap, just above the base of her neck. If they needed something bigger, she would be forced to undress. “Well, we told you about Ruri, maybe some medicine would be fine for now.” Izuku said as everyone got up. She nodded and opened her palm, so no need to undress. Good. She activated her quirk.

Nothing happened.

She tried again and again but nothing happened. “Are you okay?” Izuku asked. “Yes, of course” she replied. Just why wasn’t her quirk working?! “I don’t get it, my quirk isn’t working” she said confused. Maybe the petrification caused it to be that way? “Maybe you are just tired, let's try again in the evening” Izuku reassured her.

Everybody cleared out of the hut as Kohaku fetched her some bedding. With Chrome still inside the hut, moving the stuff, Katsuki asked Izuku “Is her quirk gone forever?” He couldn’t believe that they had just wasted all their efforts on a fruitless endeavour. “I don’t know, I don’t have enough equipment to test it” Izuku replied. His face was gnaut with worry and Katsuki realised the full gravity of the situation. They had wasted their supply of revival fluid. That meant that they could revive only one more person.

“Katsuki, I think it would be better if you survive”

Katsuki looked up, shocked at his friend’s words. “I don’t know whether or not we can still defeat him, without Momo power things look bleak. Neither do we have manpower to actually set up a factory or something. If anything happens, protect the village and revive All Might”. Katsuki was not having any of it. He grabbed Izuku by the collar. “ Don’t give up just yet dumbass. I will save you AND the village. We are in this together.” he lowered him a little.

“Have you got any idea what it felt like to watch you die? At least cherish this new life. Not everyone gets do overs” Izuku had no idea how to respond. He didn’t know that Katsuki blamed himself for everything.

“Okay”

Katsuki looked at him. “I won’t give up, but neither are you blaming yourself. I did what I had to, and I will do it again in a heartbeat. Just don’t blame yourself, okay?” Izuku said as he gave his best friend the lamest pep talk.

________________________________

Chrome was crying, no he was positively bawling his eyes out. Izuku had just told them about the world, about how quirks originated, about heroes. How the hell could someone destroy such an amazing world. A world where people were protected, where people didn’t suffer like Ruri. “How could they destroy this world?!” He cried out. Kohaku was staring at him, but he didn’t care. “I am going to find out the man behind the petrification and I am going to murder him!” He shouted. Izuku and Katsuki just had a wistful smile on his face.

“Don't be stupid” Katsuki said “All that is not gone”. He pointed to Izuku's head and then his heart. “All the 2 million years of knowledge is right here, isn’t it?”. Chrome wiped his eyes. The afternoon sun was burning his back, but he didn’t care. “Yeah” he said “Of course”. But that raised another question. Momo had not yet joined them, she was sleeping for the time being, but he might as well ask him.

“Why did you learn all this Izuku?”

Izuku's smile dropped a little. “Well, I told you about the heroes, right?” Chrome nodded “And about the quirkless?” Chrome nodded again.

“Well, I am quirkless”

Chrome suddenly felt a lot of emotions. First was anger, at fate. Then realisation, over why he hadn’t shown his quirk like Bakugou. And then respect, over how he still didn’t give up. “It is okay Izuku'' he said “My quirk is nothing fancy either, I can just summon things over from where I have ‘marked’ things” he said. He showed his palms. On the right one was an extremely detailed circular pattern while on the left palm, was an extremely detailed diamond. “Don’t shut off your potential like that!” Izuku scolded him.

“I can already think of over a hundred ways you can use your quirk, it is still better than being quirkless” Izuku continued “It doesn’t matter what powers you have, what matters is that how much you desire something. You didn’t stop even when you didn’t have scientific knowledge, you kept going on. So how can you expect me to give up.” He smiled as he finished. The sun was behind Izuku, highlighting his body like a glowing bulb.

What nobody realised was that Momo was not actually asleep. Sure she was tired, but she didn’t take anything for granted. But right now, she had come to the same realisation as Izuku. Due to extremely small quirk factor, which allowed her to create objects, the petrification’s revival properties simply mistook it as injuries and ‘healed’ them, effectively rendering her quirkless.

And she was crushed. All her hopes and dreams were centered around this one factor. The moment she lost it, so were her dreams. Her quirk was the pride of her family, the hope of these people. All the scientific data and information was now useless. But here was a boy, who didn’t have a quirk, yet he refused to give up. His dreams were logically possible, the only issue was the quirk. Yet he continued to push on, not compromising on his dreams.

She clenched her hands, maybe she can still be useful.

________________________________

Kohaku had gathered with Chrome and Izuku as the late afternoon sun lit up their gathering. “Okay, everyone, Yaoyorozou-san has lost her quirk” Izuku said. There was no point in sugar coating it. The truth was the truth, they might as well move on. “So Ruri has no hope?” Chrome asked, because if that was the case then they were most royally screwed. Momo chuckled “Never say die, Chrome. We just have to take the harder and straightforward track now” she bowed “I am sorry everyone, I hope I will be able to make up for everything”.

Her prim and proper behaviour in this environment was still surprising to Izuku, even though he knew that she was supposed to be the Yaoyorozu heiress. After all she had been trained to deal with all this disappointment and crushing defeat. He just hoped she would let it out, there was no point in bottling up the emotions.

“Does he do this often?” Kohaku whispered to Katsuki. “Yeah, it is kind of his trademark” he replied as Izuku continued to mumble. Izuku looked up. “I did it again, didn’t I?” he asked. Everyone nodded slowly. “So what do we need?” Chrome shouted, suddenly full of energy. “I will do whatever it takes to help my sister” Kohaku joined in.

“Calm down dumasses, we basically need everything. We are covering over two million years of development” Katsuki said. “Right! We basically have this road map over here, I believe that if we follow this, we might just be able to save Ruri” Izuku finished. “Damn, half of it is stuff I have never even heard of” both the villager’s eyes were popping out of their eye sockets. Izuku coughed.

“Ahem - I catalogued Chrome’s entire collection and came upon this by chance.” He took a small rock out of his pouch. “Chrome-san, you have approximately 10 kgs of corundum, 20 kgs of coal….” Izuku began and listed all the materials he had found. When he finally finished everyone was looking at him bewildered. “I knew you were a hard worker…” Katsuki said “.... but this is simply mind blowing” Chrome finished for him.

Izuku rubbed the back of his head “Anyways, back to the rock. I think we have a natural magnet on our hands”. He passed the rock around. “Chrome had a lot of these, so they are in a pot over the entrance.”

“Since it is evening right now, lets start from tommorow onwards, we might as well get some rest from today’s events” everybody nodded as they thought back to how long the day had been.

‘I might be late, but one thing I can promise you is that I will save Ruri, that is my promise!’ Chrome thought as he went back inside the shed. Earlier, he had determination, but now he felt the warm flames of hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect more divergence from canon. At the end of the medicine arc I have a BIG twist coming up.... also I have planned out the arcs till the end of the treasure island arc.


	3. A hero in the stone world

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I made some iron. And the story moves on.  
> (A big thanks to AmawaHibiki18 for some of the ideas in this chapter)

**3700 Years ago**

A lone, green haired boy lay on the ground as others crowded around him. ‘All men are not created equal’ Izuku thought ‘but science can level the playing field for anyone, that is what ji-chan said, right?’. The others used their quirk on the quirkless, playing the role of ‘heroes’ in the supposed ‘hero -villain’ game. Izuku doubled over in pain. If only someone could save him.

Izuku had stopped feeling pain a long time ago. One day while getting beaten he just heard a snap, and from then on he stopped feeling pain. He stopped feeling anything in general. It was a blessing in disguise. He could face anyone without feeling pain. Maybe it was his quirk?

“Oi !”

The newcomer was a boy younger than the gang. “What the hell are you bastards doing?” He demanded. Behind him stood another boy of around his age, but with brown hair. “What, you want to play too?” The leader demanded. New villains would definitely be nice. This villain was just plain boring.

“So that is what you are doing, huh?” The boy drawled. “Well, since you already have heroes and a villain, we will be vigilantes” he said as he stepped forward. “Vigil-, vig-, whatever, heroes will crush you” the leader said as he stepped forward, with swords appearing behind him. 

“It is called ‘vigilantes’ stupid, though I doubt your dumb brain will be able to process it” he said with a smirk. And that blew the lid off. The entire gang rushed forward, quirks already charging up. Only for the brown haired kid to stand in their way.

“DIE!” the blonde jumped on the other kid’s back like a springboard and released a blast. Izuku lay on the ground as he watched the kids fight. It was not like an actual heroes vs villains fight, but it was the most awesome fight for Izuku. The other group scurried away, with one of them having his tail literally between his legs. “Are you okay?” The blonde asked as he reached out to the boy.

“It is all going to be okay, why? Because I am here.”

**PRESENT DAY**

Momo woke up with the feel of the hard floor beneath her. Though the ground felt soft she could feel the hard wood beneath it. ‘What on earth?’ She was about to shout for help when the previous day’s events hit her like a train. Waking up, losing her quirk, everything. Initially it just didn’t hit her hard enough, but now she just felt like dying. Maybe she was worthless after all. Maybe she would just die. She shouldn’t even exist.

She slapped her cheeks. Hard. No, bad thoughts, bad thoughts. Izuku had asked for her help, how could she refuse? She was planning to be a hero after all. “So, you are awake?” Izuku called out from outside the hut. “Yeah, just give me a minute” she called out. She didn’t brush last night, after all brushes were a thing of the past now. Instead, she had just washed her mouth with vinegar. She pushed the flap open and stepped out.

No, she had to face everything head on, a hero never gives up after all.

_____________________________

Kohaku’s quirk was useful, but it had its limits. The number of clones and their durability depended on her lung capacity. The more durable the clones, the lesser the number and vice versa. So they decided to have over 5 clones, Kohaku and Katsuki to gather the sand. It was almost going to be fun, if only they didn’t have back breaking work.

“Okay everyone, so we are going to split up. In order to start making this medicine, we are going to require way more than just iron. Kohaku and Katsuki are going to go to the river while Chrome, Momo and me are going over to the mountain side. As soon as you gather whatever is necessary, let's meet up here in five minutes.” Izuku said. Kohaku had her trusty knives, that only left Chrome to get the pots. “What are you all going to do Deku?” Katsuki said. He didn’t trust Momo, yet.

After his experience with Tsukasa, he was a little wary of the Yaoyorozu heiress though nobody could blame him for that. As for Chrome, he knew he wouldn’t dare to hurt Izuku, he had the knowledge necessary for the medicine after all. “We all are going to get the quartz sand to make glass.” He said as he crossed out the materials they were going to get. “All Right!!!” The five Kohaku clones shouted as they pumped their fist in the air.

The two groups set off, unaware of the girl sneaking into the warehouse.

___________________________________

  
  


Katsuki was knee deep in the water. And he absolutely hated it. The sun was beating on their backs as the girls collected the sand. “Wow, we have a lot of this suspicious black sand in here” the original Kohaku said. Why was he stuck with them when he could be blasting the rock apart to get the sand?! Katsuki sighed and emptied the black sand into the pot. Maybe Izuku wanted him to get more information out of her? He stood up and stretched his back. This work was literally back breaking. It was then that he noticed how all the clones were dressed in their undergarments.

So that is why he did it! Katsuki covered his mouth as realisation washed over him. “Oh… oh.. My god!” He laughed. The idiot would have made a fool out of himself over here! “What are you laughing at?” Kohaku asked slightly offended. 

“Nothing, nothing at all” Katsuki said as the laughter died down. Oh, he was going to have so much fun! “Why do you call him ‘Deku’ ?” Kohaku asked. Katsuki sighed, this girl probably thought of him as a bully, if only she knew. “When Deku and I were kids, his friends were dumbasses” he began. “If his friends were dumbasses, then how could they be friends?” Kohaku deadpanned.

“Just listen to the story, damnit!” Katsuki shouted. “Anyways, they made fun of his name, because they thought of him as ‘Defenceless Izuku’, hence the name….

______________________________

  
  


Izuku climbed up the mountain with ease. His muscles and rock climbing skills were definitely helpful in this stone world. He reached out a hand to Chrome as Momo looked on from above. They stood at the top of the mountain. Despite being quirkless, Momo was still fitter than Izuku and Chrome, though marginally more fitter than Izuku. “How… how… long did it take… to reach the top?” Izuku panted. Chrome showed three fingers. “Hours?”. Chrome shook his head “Days”.

Izuku fainted on the spot.

After Izuku recovered, they set off, mining the more clear sand on Izuku’s directions when Momo came to him. “You and Bakugou are really close” she began as she gathered the sand and put it in the pot. “Yeah, in our group I was the brains, Katsuki the brawn and Taiju the defence” he said as he chiseled away at the rock. He had a feeling he knew where the conversation was going.

“Defence?”

“You will be surprised at how many people want to destroy science projects”

Momo made an ‘oh!’ expression. “So, why did Katsuki call you ‘Deku’?”. Izuku put the bone chisel down. He had expected it after all. “Because….

______________________________

“..... but I interpreted it as ‘dekiru’, meaning ‘you can do it’ “ he sighed. Why did everyone think of the negative meaning first?! And why was a watermelon floating downstream. Katsuki’s stomach growled in sync to his thoughts. He might as well grab a free meal in this free world. 

Then a girl emerged from the watermelon.

Katsuki jumped a little as he let loose a tiny explosion. It wasn’t big, just centered around his palm. “What the hell shrimp? What are you doing here?” He shouted. His ego was seriously bruised. The girl raised a rock with some of the black sand sticking from it. “Bakugou! How can you be so crass in front of her! Are you hurt Suika?” Kohaku fawned over her as she inspected her carefully. “Don’t tell me what to do!” He shouted back but Kohaku wasn’t listening. 

“What are you doing so far from the village Suika?” Kohaku scolded her. “I heard you needed help, so I helped” Suika replied with a bowed head. “But what about your safety?! Don’t go trying to be All Might!” Kohaku shouted.

“All Might?” Katsuki whispered to himself. He was shocked to say the least. “You all, who don’t have a tiny bit of idea about the modern world, how can you know about All Might?” He asked. “Well wasn’t All Might a fairy?” Kohaku asked

“Fairy?!!” 

“Yeah, his only weakness was copper right? At least that is what Ruri-nee told us.”

Okay, whosoever had destroyed All Might’s good name, he was going to blast them to kingdom come. “Copper my ass! He didn’t have any weakness at all! He was the greatest hero of our generation!” Bakugou screamed at the top of his lungs. He needed to blast something. Right now. Where was a Taiju when you needed one? Ruri better watch out. If she came out right now, he was going to murder her. He marched to the nearest tree and blasted it apart, letting out the greatest explosion he could without burning the forest to the ground.

“I am sorry, I just wanted to help.” Suika said, nearly at tears. Katsuki sighed. Why did children cry around him? “Suika, you said you wanted to help right?”. Suika nodded. “Well, Deku wouldn’t turn anyone away. The Kingdom of Science will need all the help we can get.” He handed her the rock and went off to another part of the river.

Suika was over the edge. Finally someone recognised her. Maybe he understood why she wore the mask. “I will gather all the sand in the river!” She shouted as she ran all over the river to gather the sand while Kohaku deadpanned.

______________________________

Momo knew a lot about body language. Her father had expectations from her, of course he did, which parent didn’t. So he got her the best tutors from around the world. But she preferred to study alone, so it was not a win-win. They taught her every single topic she needed for her quirk or for being a hero. She didn’t want to tell her father down… but it was frustrating.

So she looked for topics no one would teach her. One of them was psychology. She wasn’t a pro at it, not by a longshot, but she was sufficiently good in the theory part to know that Izuku was scared. He was having nightmares , and was a bit wary of certain things. Yet he led them on.

He acted as if he was an unbreakable wall, ready to take on the world.

And it was bad. She herself had some bottled up feelings, but she knew that with no support group in this world, it would be hard for her to get help. But he had Bakugou, so he should share it with him.

They stood in the middle of the clearing with the two sacks of materials on either side. If she had her quirk, all this would be child’s play. She would just eat a few meals and BAM! They would have everything they needed. Izuku snapped his fingers. “You still with us?” He asked with a concerned tone. She just nodded her head.

“So, we found some interesting stuff at the river” Katsuki said. “Like what?” said someone, Momo wasn’t really paying attention. Katsuki closed his eyes and put his hands in his pocket “Good news or bad news first?”. Izuku looked at him quizzically “Bad news would be nice”

“All Might is a fairy”

There was total silence. The wind blew through the clearing as Izuku's face lost its colour. Then Momo just blinked. Literally. And Izuku was leaning against a tree vomiting his breakfast. “Why?.... Why?.... Did… you… do this?” He said between gasps. “OH GOD! I can’t unsee this. Why? Why?” He cried, as tears pooled in a puddle around him. “Don’t die on me Deku!” Katsuki shook him by the shoulders. 

Even Momo was shocked. In her mind she thought of the muscular hunk of a giant in a tinkerbell like costume, doing a pirouette, flying around and speaking in a cross between his booming voice and the Tinkerbell voice and flexing his muscles. The image would make anyone vomit.

Momo felt water rise up her throat as she fought against her instinct. She felt nauseous. All Might flying around and- bad imagery, bad imagery!

“Why are they doing this? Do they have the runnys?” Suika asked. “Not at all Suika, it is better if you don’t know anything” Kohaku said. She dispelled the clones surrounding her and waited for a long time.

It took the crew 1 hour to recover. Izuku had already gone to sleep, unconscious from the truth behind the stories, leaving Momo incharge of the processing of the materials. Iron was the easier thing to make, they still needed a craftsman for the glass. “So, how do you make iron from sand?” Chrome asked. Maybe they needed some chanting - nope, science didn’t do that. Momo clapped her hands together. “Out of everything we need iron is the easiest. You just need to blow a lot of oxygen.”

“Ox..”

“..y..”

“...gen?”

Momo face palmed herself mentally. Of all the hard science facts that they told them that day, they forgot to tell them about the gas they breathe. “You just need to blow like hell” Katsuki simplified. Momo tossed them the bags they had made beforehand. Kohaku gave it an experimental push and watched as it blew out air.

“So this is what you made! I can blow forever with this.” Kohaku shouted. If only they knew. “Kohaku -chan, why don’t you make some clones. If we need a break, they can take over for us.” Momo knew exactly how hard things were going to be. She was so glad this task was being performed using quirks. If not, it might as well be impossible.

**A Few Hours Later**

Momo stretched as she settled down on the grass. It felt so good to relax after back breaking work. She stretched on the leather sheet gazing at the stars. Suika had already gone to sleep, while Chrome had taken her place. Katsuki had gone off somewhere else for his break. She was up again in over an hour. Might as well enjoy it.

“C-Can I s-sit here?”. Momo looked up to see Izuku standing a good distance away, respecting her personal space. In contrast to Bakugou’s crude personality, Izuku was a gentleman. How did someone like him even start stuttering? She had looked at his muscles and was impressed at his hard work. He had a body most people would kill for.

“Um?”

She realised that she had been staring directly at him, staring off into space. She unfolded the blanket and patted beside her. Izuku sat down beside her and smiled, content. “The view I is better when you lie down” Momo folded one arm underneath her arm and the other rested on her stomach. Izuku nervously lay down beside her. “Do you know the constellations?” Momo asked. Izuku nodded. “Y-Yeah, my grandfather was a scientist. Whenever I visited him, we would lie down on the roof and he would tell me about the stars and galaxies.”

“Sounds nice” Momo said. Back in the previous world, she only got this chance when she visited the countryside. Maybe she should have cherished those memories. “So, how are you doing?” He asked, going into his ‘captain’ mode. “You don’t need to keep up this persona around me Izuku.” Momo sighed. Izuku was perplexed.

“P-Persona?!”

“Yeah,” Momo said. The cat was out of the bag, might as well show the empty bag. “People’s behaviour, knowing body language was ingrained into me. By myself, thank you. I might not be a full fledged psychologist, but I think I know when someone is trying to pull the wool over my eyes”. She sighed.

“It would be better if you confide in someone, bottling stuff like that that is bad for mental health.” she continued as Izuku stared at her. Izuku looked at the sky and clenched his fist. “You know how Bakugou and I met?”. Momo shook her head. “Well, Bakugou was a lot worse when we were kids. Ever since he got his quirk and I was diagnosed quirkless, he and the other kids used to gang up on me. But then Taiju entered.”

Momo stared at the sky as she listened to Izuku tell her the biggest secret among the friends. “Taiju beat the crap out of Katsuki and made him acknowledge me. Eventually, overtime we became closer friends” Momo nodded as Izuku continued to tell her the full story. “When Tsukasa killed me, it affected Bakugou the most. He feels as if he still needs to make up for what he did. He is still suffering on the inside. I don’t want to pile up more stuff on him. I would rather make it my burden than his.” Izuku finished.

“But why me?”

Izuku looked at her a bit shocked. “Why me? Why did you tell me all this?” Momo asked, genuinely confused. Izuku scratched his cheek and shrugged. “I don’t know, I just felt like it”. Izuku took a deep breath “Other than Katsuki, you are the only modern human around. You are the only one who understands the full gravity of the situation. So I suppose it made sense to me.”

Izuku got up and brushed his leather garments. “Anyways, I think we have a lot of work to do, our shift begins in five.” Momo took his hand and pulled herself up. Maybe being in the stone world is not so bad after all.

__________________________________

Izuku stopped blowing as his arms felt like lead. Kohaku had already collapsed from exhaustion, but her clones continued. But for the past one hour, it had only been Chrome, Katsuki, Izuku and Momo. He sat back as the others stopped their work. Katsuki was also looking bad. “Lets see whether we managed to do it or not.” Katsuki blasted the kiln apart, his sweat pouring in buckets. “Oi Deku” Katsuki was actually smiling. “Looks like we managed it after all”. Inside the pot was red hot molten iron. Katsuki picked it with his bare hands and poured it into the mould as if it was nothing. They all watched as the iron flowed into the mold and formed red bars.

“We actually did it” Momo whispered. Her arms were also burning, but the satisfaction of being successful felt amazing. She fell back on the ground and stared at the morning sun. Izuku was also barely standing, but felt amazing as the first step was complete. The age of iron was here. “Let's take a break” Izuku said. Momo untied her ponytail and let her hair fall. They cascaded down her back as Izuku stared. “Izuku-chan, can I have a piece of your soap?” Momo asked. “Momo-chan, it is what is keeping us alive, take as much as you need” Izuku tossed her the pouch containing the bar of soap.

“When the hell did you go from ‘san’ to ‘chan’ ?”

Both of them whipped around to look at the blonde. “What?” He shouted. “For two just two days, the transformation is too fast.” He defended himself. Izuku had gone red in the face and looked on the verge of a mental breakdown while Momo just stared at him. “Either way, even I should just take a bath first.”.

Momo was about to protest when Izuku said “Yeah, that makes more sense, your sweat would just explode otherwise” Katsuki took the soap and walked off. “I think we should celebrate this occasion” Momo said. 

“How did you all celebrate such stuff?” Chrome asked, he had finally recovered his breath. “When I made my first rocket, my grandfather treated me to ramen” Izuku said thinking back to all that time. “So what are we gonna do?” Chrome wanted to do something badass, something mind blowing. “I get it! Let's make ramen!” Chrome jumped up and down like a kid at a toy store. This was so exciting!

“Slow down hotshot, you can’t just wish ramen into existence. You need all sorts of foodstuff for it.” Izuku was bone tired. Maybe they could start over again after a days rest. Chrome raised his palm and closed his eyes as a portal appeared above his palm. Suddenly Kohaku appeared from it. Izuku watched in slow motion as Kohaku woke up and landed on her back. “CHROME!” Kohaku growled. Izuku felt a chill go up his spine as Chrome bowed before her.

“I am sorry”. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See ya in the next chapter. The next one is a double update, and I will release it on 12th of this month.
> 
> See ya!


	4. Omake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was tired of waiting for the weekend, so I thought up of this omake. Though it indicates no spoilers about future chapters.
> 
> Enjoy!

Izuku was in a dilemma. It was a dilemma even bigger than the one he faced when he revived All Might.

What was he supposed to bring as a wedding gift?!

"Shut up nerd, we already helped save Ruri, just give her more of her meds" Bakugou lazed around in their hut. "Bakugou! A wedding day only comes around once, we should give them something they would cherish. Also giving them Ruri's medicine just looks cheap." Momo admonished him.

Meanwhile Izuku was hyperventilating. "What should I do? What should I do?". He walked in circles as he scratched his head. " I had hoped to give them ramen, but they already have it! What can I do now!" He shouted as he settled down on the floor and cried.

Momo patted his back "It is okay Izu-kun, we all are in a similar predicament."

" **Fear not.."**

Everyone looked at the door, eyes shining. The hero was here!

" **... Why? because -"**

All Might sputtered blood as he screeched to a halt. The hero music stopped as they stared at the doorway. "- I need your help" All Might hung his head in shame. Izuku face palmed and cried the legendary Midoriya tears, flooding the room.

Momo slapped her forehead. This was it. She had enough of this tomfoolery.

Her hair flew in the air and her voice became deep as a shadow fell over her face. " **Listen here you dumbasses ..."** she planted a foot on the bed.

" **... get your asses up. We have a gift to make."**

The teacher - student pair kneeled at her feet while Katsuki was dragged to the forge.

**Exactly one hour later**

Izuku and Katsuki presented their gift, a beautiful model of a brass butterfly, bruised and beaten within an inch of their life to the married couple.

Ruri wore a white cotton dress, courtesy of Yuzuriha, while Chrome wore a formal suit, also a Yuzuriha creation. "She got you good" Shinsou sweat dropped as he presented a wood carving. Izuku and Katsuki could only sputter through bleeding lips and swollen eyes.

And this story went down as the 101st story in the 101 stories, a lesson to never piss off a certain creative hero, or else get creative punishments in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who knew the date of the next as 13, I am sorry due to various reasons I will be releasing it on 12 instead.


	5. Water cannon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of the double update!

Chrome was grumpy. He nearly got to taste something from the previous world, when Izuku destroyed the mood. “Nope not happening, we need to make more bars. We don’t know when a thunderstorm will pass by or when Tsukasa will attack. We can have all the ramen we want later on.”. Chrome sighed.

He knew that the time was short. They needed to make the medicine and fight Tsukasa. But it would be nice to have a break.

“We need more people” Momo got straight to the point. Kohaku had gone off to hunt, after all the duty to the village called. “Why exactly? We do have the undefeated, uncrowned lioness on our side.” Chrome couldn’t get the logic behind all this. Maybe they needed more people for ramen?

“Using a quirk takes a toll on anybody. Has nobody noticed how she coughs out blood?” Momo asked. It was only this morning that she had noticed this. She got up for her morning run when she noticed her coughing out blood. Everybody's face fell. “I agree, but I am sure Kohaku-san will fight over it. Also, if we stop taking the help of her quirk, we won’t be able to finish anything on time.” Izuku rubbed his chin as he pondered on the ethical question.

“But we can’t keep using her as a resource! We need to think about her too!” Momo snapped back.

“Maybe you dorks can bait someone with science” Bakugou suggested roasting his stick over the fire. “B-Bakugou! How can we even do that! They would just pass it of as sorcery.” Izuku was a little shocked at how easily Bakugou suggested this. Maybe living in the stone world changed him a little.

“Technically, we would not be baiting them, we are just asking for their help and giving them something else in exchange. An equivalent exchange.” Momo was ready to go with this idea. It was good, they would get work out of people in exchange for a scientific item. This was how things have been for a long time. “B-but!” Izuku was still a little hesitant about the trickery, but a lone man can never fight a battle alone. In the end he was convinced.

“We need someone on the inside, who is innocent, and everyone trusts them” Momo said. She had already thought things through. And there was only one such person. Everyone turned their heads slowly to Suika. Izuku mustered all his charm “Can we trust you for this mission, Detective Suika?”

Suika was over the moon. _Finally_ someone asked for her help. She ran towards the village, rolling in her headgear. She would never let anyone down!

_______________________________

Since everyone was off to their own work, that left the modern people to their own devices. Izuku and Katsuki went off into the forest to search for a certain someone, who they were, they refused to tell. That left Momo to relax on her own. She decided to doze off for an afternoon nap, she didn’t sleep well last night…..

She was running. Again. Her fourteen year old self was running down the hallway, again. ‘No, please no, not this again’. She tried hard to wake up, but she was stuck like a statue in this dream. She was wearing her hero costume, the nanites working silently and gathering data. Her black boots ran across the white hallway as the scene replayed.

Two flaps of black fabric covered her chest, leaving the nanites to cover the middle area. The red nanites covered her midriff and the rest of her torso, while her arms were left bare, with red gloves, of course. She turned at the end of the corridor and saw a sight she didn’t want to see.

The hero law, which had been around for a long time, allowed anyone to gain a provisional quirk usage license. That way, you can technically be a sidekick at the age of 13. Then give a hero license exam at the age of 16 to be a pro. That is what she did. She was Ingenium’s protégée, her job wasn’t fancy, just process the paperwork when she was not in school, work on Sunday and Saturday if she wanted to.

Then came her first major case. People in her school were disappearing, find out why. The truth shocked her.

Her friend, an outcast, Himiko Toga was the culprit. She had turned into a psycho maniac. Now she was chasing her down. Her footsteps screeched to a halt, just as they had in reality. In reality it was a janitor, but her it was her father.

Himiko crouched on the floor, drinking his blood. His face was blanched and his arm was crushed.

“NO!”

She sat up in her bed her arms outstretched, in a cold sweat. She was in the hut, a screen separating the boys and the girl (no funny business, as Kohaku said). ‘Just a dream, just a dream...’ she repeated in her mind. She wondered what would have happened if it was to happen in reality.

  
  


___________________________

  
  


“So detective Suika, what do you have to report?” Momo asked. It was already night and they were sitting around a bonfire. The light reflected from her glasses as she stood before the group. Izuku was toasting a few mushrooms over the fire, their dinner. Her stomach growled as she thought about food. “Well,Garnet and the girls want a husband, someone to take care of them”. Momo turned to Katsuki “Looks like someone can find a job as a husband”.

Katsuki grunted while Izuku tired hard to not laugh. “Next” he grumbled. “That only leaves Ganen, he wants something else to eat” Suika finished her report. So only a few useless demands.

“THAT'S IT!”

Chrome shouted . “We can whip up something to eat!” he looked at all of them, eyes brimming with excitement. “You did tell me about cheese and stuff, right? Let’s make it right here.” Kohaku stared at them as if they were stupid. “Why do we need more people? I thought I was enough”.

Everyone's heartbeat went up. If they told her the truth, she would fight. But how could they lie? “We are doing this to gain some good will, lioness” Katsuki grumbled as he munched on the mushrooms.

“Lioness?! Who do you think you are, Blast Boy?”

“Blast Boy? Exactly how lame can you even be?”

Izuku could only watch as they fought. At least they did not get into a physical fight. “So, Izuku, what should we make?” Chrome rubbed his hands together as he salivated. Everyone turned to him. Ramen was within his reach now.

‘He is so obvious’ everyone deadpanned.

“Yes Chrome-chan, we can finally have your ramen” Izuku leaned back.

  
  


______________________

  
  


It was still evening when Izuku called out Momo and Chrome. “M-momo-chan, I was wondering if you can help.” Izuku asked rubbing his neck. Momo had just finished her afternoon nap, and the sun was setting on her left. “I had a hypothesis, I was hoping if you can help me confirm it.”

“Chrome-chan’s quirk allows him to summon anything, right so I was wondering if we summon water. We don’t know if he uses wormholes or not, if he does they are ideally infinitely small. But we can't put the length as zero in the poiseuelle’s equation. Also if the diameter is of a maximum of 5 cm… get the numbers right…. yeah, it may work, it is better if I ask Momo-chan -”

He looked up to see Chrome and Momo sweatdrop. “He sure does it all the time”/ “Maybe that is his quirk?”. The two of them were already lost in their own conversations. “GUYS!” Izuku shouted to bring them back to earth.

“Yes, I get the plan Izuku, theoretically it may work” Momo chuckled. “How were you able to keep up, with _that_?!” Chrome was shocked. Someone was actually able to keep up with Izuku's legendary mumblings. “You would be surprised at how often I had to extract information from a mumble storm” Momo thought back to how often Ingenium used to start mumbling during combat.

“Either way, we will only know for sure if we actually put the idea to use”

“Yes, let’s do this!”

Chrome was at his wit’s end. He didn't get anything from Izuku’s mumblings, so he had no idea what was going on. “Will. Someone. Tell. Me. Just. What. Is. Going. On”

“We are giving you a fighting chance” Momo said nonchalantly as she turned back to Izuku. They both stopped and smiled as her words sank in. “Guys - how… why?” Chrome was shocked. Giving him a fighting chance was futile. Sure he had gained some muscle from all the fighting and training, but thinking out strategies for him was just…. too much.

He sank to his knees and cried. “You… you guys”. Izuku and Momo hugged him as he cried his heart out. He had given up on being with Ruri for a long time. He had made peace with the fact that he would never be with Ruri. He was happy as long as whosoever she was married to treated her well. Izuku patted his back as he sat up.

“Chrome-chan, you pretend to not love Ruri, yet we all know that you love her from the bottom of your heart. I suppose you deserve this thing” Izuku said but Chrome had already stopped hearing anything. Theystayed that way for a minimum of five minutes. Finally Chrome got up.

“What is it? Is it a supercool weapon? What is it?” He asked eyes gleaming. Izuku cleared his throat. And started mumbling.

“If I were to use the poiseuille’s equation then using your wormhole quirk, I would be able to calculate the volume flow rate. An ideal wormhole is of infinitesimal small length. But that would complicate stuff. So I would assume it as 1.6 *10-10 metres. Then take the area as approximately 78.5*10-3 squaremetres. Then take the neta as….. Then if the pressure at the depth 20 metres is 3 atm. Then…. the volume flow rate is…”

He looked up to see Chrome and Momo deadpanning. “Katsuki wasn't kidding”/ “That is Deku for ya”. “GUYS!” Izuku snapped at the crew and rubbed his eyes as the rest laughed. “Basically, if you summon the water from the bottom of the ocean, you can blow off the top of the mountain”. Chrome stared at him. “No, seriously, if we were to summon the water it can hypothetically tear off this tree. You do remember those ‘houses’ I asked you to mark?”

Chrome nodded as he remembered those structures. Each had taken over three hours to build, but he wasn't told anything about their purpose. They were square in shape with a ‘roof’ slanting inwards. In their center was the summoning mark. “I want you to try and activate any one of them”

Chrome closed his eyes and raised his hand as he concentrated on the pull. He tugged harder. And a torrent rushed out. It hit hard and fast as Chrome struggled to maintain his balance. He grabbed his arm to hold it steady as the beam of water hit the tree, almost cutting it in two. Finally he cut it off the white stream as they surveyed the damage. Izuku and Momo were already behind him, ready to catch him if he fell.

“This… this could work”


	6. A mentalist, a change and an overhaul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second double update!

“Please tell me we are not eating this” Kohaku said as she thrashed the foxtail millet. The furry hair around it was not only grossing her out, but the fact that someone could even swallow it was horrifying. Izuku laughed “Not at all, we are making dough first”. Momo had already thrashed her pile and was now filtering it using water. Katsuki was beating the plants with his ‘die’ expression. 

Izuku was finished with his pile and Suika looked into his harvest. “It is all dirty and blurry”. Izuku patted her head. “Don’t worry Suika, we are filtering it like Momo”. He poured in the water that he had got from the stream. He poured it into the pitcher and stirred it. The lighter impurities floated on top while the heavier grains sank to the bottom. He directed everyone to grind it into a paste. “This dish is not originally from Japan. It was discovered by a foolish Mongol in 4 th century Mongolia. He must have been like you, Chrome.”

Izuku mixed the pastes together and rolled it into a dough. Katsuki sliced it into pieces and put the noodles into the bowl. “I will tenderize the eggs with KNO 3 , and add meat to it. After cooking it for a few hours, they could smell the heavenly aroma of ramen. “This badass dish, known as ramen was eaten by our ancestors.” Katsuki said holding a bowl of ramen.

Needless to say, not a lick of it was left in the villager's bowls.

___________________

Asagiri Gen was hungry. He was a mentalist for god’s sake! Even with his quirk, nobody could expect him to hunt, he was simply not suited for this. A heavenly smell reached him, almost like ramen. His feet carried him towards, almost unoticing. He came upon the sea shore, the salty winds bringing the smell with them.

In the middle of the clearing, a large group of people were serving ramen from a stall. It could have been a dream, yet there was Izuku-chan, his target. A small girl with a watermelon on her head came to him with a bowl and handed it to him. He gorged on the noodles, his hunger overiding his sense of taste. He inhaled the bowl and the girl came around with another bowl. With his stomach fed, he made his move.

“Oh dear! I like this ramen, if only I had some cola.”

He waited. This was a reference only a modern person could get. So Izuku, show me those observational skills, the ones that even Tsukasa was scared of. His back was towards his target, a grave mistake if he was dealing with someone else, but not this guy. He was a hero.

What happened next was too sudden. In a flash all types of knives and spears were at his neck. A boy blocking his exit to his left, a girl in the front, no make that two and a man behind him with another to his right.

Gen watched his opponents. The girl in the front was a fighter, facing challenges head on, probably hot headed. The man behind him was a coward. Another was glaring, was he shortsighted? The woman with the bo staff, oh! That was the creative hero! So he did revive her! The popping boy was Katsuki, he was dangerous. But the one that interested him the most was standing far away, near the cart. When will you show your true colors Izuku-chan?

“Don't even dare to lie, I will slice your throat. Answer me truthfully, are you with that long haired man?” The girl in the front asked. She hadn’t used her quirk yet, was she injured or quirkless? No, it was impossible for her to be quirkless. If Tsukasa was right in his observations, then this village cannot have anyone quirkless. So she must be injured. “Do you know him Izuku?” The grey eyed creative hero asked.

A first name basis? Were they that close? How long had the girl been depetrified? “N-Not really Momo-chan. If I am correct, he must be Asagiri Gen, the mentalist”. Wait, seriously, was Tsukasa scared of this kid?! He couldn't even harm a fly if he wanted to! ‘Gen, you are the one who told me appearances can be deceiving’ his roommate whispered, amused.

“Sorry, I don’t know any long haired man. I was on my own ever since I was depetrified.” The words fell from his mouth, light and weightless as a feather. He didn't have time to argue with his roommate. He will get back at him later. The blonde stopped using his quirk and folded his arms across his chest and smirked. Folding his arms, that meant he was wary of him, good. “It is okay, it doesn’t matter who you are. Whosoever has eaten a bowl, now has work to do”

____________________

Shinsou was hating his life. He was seriously contemplating his life choices. Just what sort of karma was this! He was stuck pumping oxygen into iron. Why?! His arms felt like lead. And here he thought that he had enough exercise from just walking around in the forest. “Asagiri Gen, how are Yuzuriha and Taiju doing?” Katsuki asked. Shinsou sighed mentally. If only he knew the truth.

“You thought that I would be so lost in my work that I would confess” Shinsou laughed. His roommate was the mentalist for god’s sake! “Both are doing well, with Taiju unlimited stamina all the work is finished quickly”.

The blonde girl rushed towards him with daggers in her hands. Only to be stopped by the creative hero. “If we kill him now, then Tsukasa will know for sure that Izuku is alive. He must live” Shinsou smirked on the inside. This girl was a hero at heart. She can’t stand the idea of killing.

If anything, they could just leave the village after killing him and the villagers would take the blame for this. Even in the previous world, people were always wary of foreigners. But doing so would mean the subjugation of the village and almost certain death of the villagers. Hence she can’t kill him.

“But I believe you have a good reason for announcing that you are a spy” Momo asked. She had always hated the mentalist for his manipulations in the old world. Shinsou felt his brain pound as his roommate wrestled for control. ‘Let me handle this!’ He hissed back. But ultimately Gen won. Shinsou felt the world change as he assumed a balcony seat view of the happenings.

“Of course, but this changes everything” the silver tongued man spoke. “If Tsukasa’s army were to invade today, they would win hands down. But with all the iron you have here, there is no true victor. The situation has changed. As the world’s most selfish man, I would like to win. Always” he finished with a sinister grin.

Shinsou rolled his eyes at the crap. Gen was _so_ _not_ the world’s most selfish man. He did care for him after all. ‘I wouldn't be so sure of that Shinsou-chan’ Gen whispered. ‘You are merely a vessel, if I find someone else compatible, I would transfer in a heartbeat’. Okay, he was the world's most selfish man.

Shinsou was suddenly thrust back into the world as he was given control. What were they talking about again? Right!

“With this iron you can make all sorts of swords and shields, and if paired with the proper quirks you will gain victory.” He wasn't as silver tongued as Gen, but living with the silver tongued man had it’s benefits. “We have already prepared iron, we are just preparing the second batch” Izuku said. His posture was that of a scared man trying to be brave. ‘I still don't get it, why is Tsukasa so scared of this twig?’ Gen whispered, a little annoyed. Almost anyone could strong arm this kid. So what was so special about him?

“Actually, Tsukasa is trying to recruit Izuku-chan” Shinsou watched as the entire group's eyes went wide. ‘Huh, so they didn't know after all. Maybe we were not under surveillance as we previously thought.’ Gen was surprised and a little shocked at their boldness and courage. They really should keep an eye on the enemy, no matter who they are.

“Tsukasa is no longer interested in killing Izuku. He would rather recruit him on his side. I was merely a messenger. If Izuku was found, give him the message, if not then come back”.

This was a rather… interesting development. Momo had no idea what to do. Tsukasa had murdered Izuku, so what was he planning to do now? Also, what made him think that Izuku could cheat death in the first place? And there was only one person who could answer these for her. “Asagiri Gen, what exactly is your play?” Momo asked. Was trying to trick them into their home base? No, nobody was that foolish.

“I told you, didn't I? I do everything for my benefit. But right now, I haven't really taken your side. So I can't just give away this crucial piece of information” Gen replied. Shinsou was once again, but this time willingly, pushed into the corner. He only trusted Gen to handle this. “It is okay, once our iron is complete, you would definitely take our side” Momo replied with a smile.

They worked all day and late into the evening. Of course the villagers wanted to go back to the village but Gen was more than enough for them. “Everyone! We did eat the ramen, right?” Gen asked the dangerous mob. The boy with spikes growing from his arms turned to him angrily “Yeah? So what?”. Ganen, right! His name was Ganen. “Ganen, they gave us food, if we don't pay for the work we will be punished, right?” Gen asked innocently.

Ganen looked at him, conflicted. Even in the old world, people were afraid of only one thing, the wrath of god. It had always been that way throughout history. He watched as the crowd settled back and did their job, grumpily.

______________________

Finally, it was night and the stars came out. Bakugou broke open the kiln and took out the molten iron in his bare hands. How he could even handle this much heat, he didn't even know. “When Bakugou uses his explosions, the temperature reaches over 3000°C. So his quirk grants him a natural resistance to hot temperatures. He can even swim in molten lava for over 10 seconds before burning to his death” Izuku explained as they stood near the trees.

The molten iron lit up the clearing like a flower in full bloom. The flower of death flowed into the ditches and reformed into bars of iron. “Okay everyone! I think we can rest now!” Izuku called out as everyone collapsed from exhaustion. They dragged themselves to the warehouse while Gen stood alone in the night.

He stared into the pot of water, and on his reflection. The stars were bright against the dark sky, and he could see the milky way. There was a legend, about how milky way came into being. When baby Hercules was being nursed by Hera, he accidentally sucked a little too hard, causing Hera to jerk away. The rest of the milk was spread across the sky, resulting in the milky way.

“Kind of like our story, isn't it, Shinsou-chan?” Gen watched as his face twisted and shifted. The white hair receded into his scalp as it turned purple. His sharp eyes turned into a sleep deprived purple as Shinsou’s features came back. “Yes, ni-chan” Shinsou watched as a pair of lips formed on his neck. “Shinsou-chan, do you think we should trust Izuku?” Gen asked, genuinely intruged.

Even though the two brothers could always look into each other's feelings and memories, they couldn't influence their decisions. So Gen wanted to know what exactly Shinsou wanted, because he had not come to a decision yet. “Ni-sama, he is as smart as you, maybe even smarter. Yet he didn't resort to our techniques. Despite being powerless, he didn't stoop down as low as us. But that just doesn't fit in, the probability is high impossible, I think we should bid our time and yet be their allies”

“Aw! Shinsou-kun is getting soft~” Gen teased him. Shinsou just rolled his eyes and chuckled. Funny, how in this stone world, the previous world’s downtrodden were coming to their rescue. “I believe it is time, ni-sama”. Shinsou watched as his features twisted and turned into those of Asagiri Gen, the famed ‘mentalist’.

“Gen-san!”

Gen looked up to see Izuku leaning from the doorway. “It will be cold at night, if you want you can come in or we can give you a sleeping bag”. Gen smiled a little and turned to Izuku. “I believe I own you an explanation, regarding the recruitment....”

______________________

Tsukasa stood at the edge of the cliff. There was a single statue jutting out from the cliff. The statue was of a man with cold eyes and short hair, something that remotely resembled a crew cut. The man was missing an arm, but Tsukasa didn't care. This man would probably regrow it back. He poured the water of life on the statue and for sometime nothing happened.

Then a crack was heard. It grew, all the while increasing in intensity as the man emerged. “Where the hell am I, what sort of joke is this?” The man thundered.

“Overhaul”

The man named Overhaul, who was still jutting out from the cliff turned at the sound. The ground reformed around him as he stood face to face with Tsukasa. “It has been a long time” he greeted his rescuer coldly. “It is over 3700 years into the future, today is 1 st April, 5919 AD. You have been stuck in at one for a long time”.

_____________________

“....and so the Empire of Might would like to have your cooperation.” Gen finished his tale. They all sat in the candlelight. Gen sat on one side, not a good position when making demands or convincing someone, but Momo was adamant. Momo and Katsuki sat on Izuku's either side while Kohaku and Katsuki leaned behind him, against the doorway.

“Asagiri Gen, what will happen if I were to, hypothetically, say no?” Izuku asked with his thumb in front of his mouth, staring into the candlelight. Gen considered his words carefully “If you can't join us, then Tsukasa can always force you to join him”.

“You referred to Tsukasa in third person, should we take it as a sign that you have joined us?” Izuku's lips were pressed in a thin line, his face showing maturity far beyond his years. This was not a kid who would rush head first into action, this was a kid who would make the situation do the work for him. He was a hero, one who would save everyone at his own cost.

“I can’t say for sure, it depends which side is more beneficial” Gen leaned back a little. I wonder how you would counter me, Izuku-chan. “So haven't decided even after seeing our iron?” Izuku asked a little surprised. “Izuku-chan, it depends how you would use the iron. The atomic energy wasn't inherently bad. It was how it was used ” Gen was waiting in anticipation.

When would Izuku say that he knew his secret? When would he let go of his ideals? To just what extent would he go for them? “Gen-san” Izuku began “how about you wait for a few days, then you can always decide what to do”. Huh, he did not win the battle, what made him think he could win the war? Gen sighed. Only time will tell. “Very well, I believe two days won’t hurt”

_____________________

Gen woke up in the morning and walked out into the cold morning. The Kingdom of Science were all, surprisingly, early risers. Izuku stood in front of the group, the rest of them standing in front of him in a straight line. “Izuku-chan~” Gen called out. The entire group turned to him with looks of disgust. It will take some time.

“Gen-san!” Izuku was the only one who had some semblance of politeness. “What is the kingdom of science making this time?” He asked. The ground was still soft from yesterday night’s rain. Izuku gave him a smile that could rival All Might.

“We are making a Generator!”


	7. Lightning Speed!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is long overdue.
> 
> Also, stay safe and be mindful of your health  
> (And without Amawahibiki18 this chapter would have never been possible)

_ Quirks. Superpowers that 80% of the population now possesses, that you, dear reader, probably have. However, this had not been the case forever. _

_ When the quirks first appeared on the scene there was chaos. It all began with a child born in China who radiated light. "This my child's quirk," she said, or so the legend of the 'quirk mother' said. Why the chaos, you wonder? With these superpowers, everything went downhill. Criminals could now just walk in and out of a bank with the money. Espionage, quirk discrimination, murder; you name it, it happened. But for every light, there is darkness, for every morning a sunset. To combat these villains heroes were born. _

_ Now, depending on which universe you are from, you may call them vigilantes or heroes or plain criminals. These people were often children who did more harm than good, but they were a symbol of hope, a dim one at that. With no guidance or training, they were driven by a hero's instinct. However a hero’s instinct wasn’t necessarily correct. Even after being banned by the government, they refused to give up in their fight against ‘evil’ and forced the government to recognize them. This led to the birth of a new profession : the Pro-Hero. _

Sanctioned by the government, these keepers of peace and justice were able to perform their duties like a well-oiled machine.  _ Gaining support from the police, investigative jurisdiction and, the best of all, actual, good looking hero uniforms. _ This brought a revolution within the society, a new renaissance. Hero tropes were redefined and twisted to better fit the current world. Spiderman was glorified over the Punisher, the news network became a non-stop beatdown of villains. People began judging things as good and evil, crime was reduced a little, people became more ‘open-minded’.

_ But all was not well. _

_ Due to this constant war between good and evil that had spilled onto the streets, countless lives were lost. Average life expectancy took a nosedive, an average man could only live till the age of 40. The workforce was reduced to the point that the education system underwent an overhaul. No longer did a child have to wait until the age of 18 to find work. They could be legally employed at the age of 13 as “unskilled labor”. Colleges were turned into high schools. Going to them for further studies alllowed one to join the skilled workforce at the ripe age of 16. _

_ But those aspiring to be heroes had it bad, at least according to them. In a bid to control this ‘hero market’ people could only be a hero through government schools or schools set up as a joint venture with the newly established ‘support companies’. To become a hero you need to join a hero academy at the age of 15 and then give the official hero exam to become a hero at the age of 18. _

  * **The Cosmic Chronicle**



Asagiri Gen was a 195-year-old guy who was mentally stuck at 19 years of age. He had seen governments fall, maps change, heck he even went toe to toe against All for One. It is another matter that he lost. But never before had he heard such an outrageous thing. Even the usually nonchalant Shinsou had his mouth open, at least in the mental image. "Generator?!!" The mentalist felt as if he was about to die.

Izuku looked up as he ticked off the items they had "We have native copper, bar iron and everything else. But we are two months too early". 

"What do you mean?" Momo asked, a little worried about Izuku’s sanity. They were already a little behind schedule. Ruri's condition was already progressing faster than predicted. They were unable to find a person with a healing quirk. Can someone explain exactly how they were ahead of time?! "We actually need magnets to make a generator," Izuku explained with a tired smile.

He was leaning against a tree, the sun still waiting to come out. He stretched his arms a little as he shifted against the tree. "But we already have the magnets we used to gather the black sand" Suika offered her two cents. "Our natural magnets can only do so much. To make a generator we need more powerful ones" Izuku cracked his knuckles. 

"I was planning on using the thunderstorms to make a generator, but we are probably two months too early. Our only option is to awaken someone with an electric quirk" he finished. "We only have today to make our generator, so if you remember or find anyone with an electric quirk, get back here ASAP. We don't have time to waste" he lifted himself from the tree and stood in front of the mesmerized crowd. He clapped his hands twice to bring them back to reality. 

They all disappeared into the woods leaving Gen alone. 'Ni-sama, do you think we should help them?' Shinsou asked. He didn't know whether helping them was a logical decision. For all he knew they might just be using them; maybe they were just plotting something right now, you never know. 'Not really Shinsou-chan' Gen interrupted his train of thought. 'Izuku is someone who can't lie, no matter how dire the situation is. I suppose he was genuine about the electric quirk, we might as well help them’ Gen stated as he nudged him out of the seat. 

Their body contorted as it shifted to acquire Shinsou's features. The sharp black eyes and the white and black hair were replaced by dull purple eyes and purple hair. "So I do all the hard work?" Shinsou asked aloud. 'Yes Shinsou-chan, even I need some rest'.

Shinsou shook his head as he headed into the forest. Gen's spirit emerged from his back to clutch his shoulders. "Steer me to a cluster of statues" his cold breath was like death against Shinsou's ear. Shinsou walked to where most of the statues were, in a sort of dale overgrown with trees. The area was dry due to the sweltering heat, though it would be like a swamp during the rains. Gen’s quirk allowed him to ‘sense’ people with their quirks. It was almost as if he heard the quirks. When he allowed Shinsou to experience it, he felt as if they were speaking to him. 

He jumped over a root and stared at the statue's faces. Most were in good condition, some were missing an arm or two. Shinsou stopped at one of the statues in the center. It looked surprisingly familiar. "Ah! yes, it is Black Lightning," Gen said as he leaned from Shinsou's shoulder.

His hair was cut to stubs, almost rendering him bald. If Shinsou were to squeeze his eyes, he could almost see the resemblance to the hero. But as it was, unfortunately, losing his entire body, rendered the find useless. They moved on deeper into the dale. "Stop right here," Gen said as he leaned away from Shinsou's shoulders. Shinsou backtracked a little to stand in front of two statues. A boy was hugging a girl almost as if he was about to die. The girl looked as if she was about to vomit from the boy's touch.

"I know about the girl. She is the daughter of the now-bankrupt Uraraka Corporation founder. Her quirk is almost, what you would call, OP. We need to get her back to the base. If Kai gets his hands on her we are screwed" Gen explained. Shinsou was a little pissed off, why did all the hard work fall on his shoulders? If they were in a partnership it would be only fair if Gen did his share of work. Gen sighed.

"Even after living together for over 3000 years, you still haven't got used to our melding of thoughts". Their body twisted and changed as Gen took over. "Fine, I will lift them, you just have to make an old man work" Gen did his ‘cinnamon roll’ face as Shinsou rolled his eyes "Stop doing that, I think you have a serious competitor for this role". Gen huffed a little as he climbed over the lip of the crater with the statues on his back.

They made their way back to the camp with the two statues in tow. Kohaku turned towards them, obviously a little wary, and raised an eyebrow. "Back so soon? The others are not back yet" she stated the obvious. She casually climbed to the top of the hut as Gen put the statue on the ground. "Not really, I just found a really useful quirk. I will go right -". Suddenly there was a whistling in the air with a heavy thud. Gen turned around, already quite acquainted well with this sound. He just hoped that his fears would be unfounded.

He whirled around, heartbeat thumping. Why would Kohaku try to commit suicide? Did the stress finally get to her? Or did one of Kai's acolytes do this? "What. Did. She. Do?" Shinsou asked, hero instincts taking over. Gen stood there, a little shocked. Then he started laughing. In the place where Kohaku's body should have been, there was a small cloud. The girl had left a clone in her place. Once the clone was destroyed, she transmitted all her memories to the others. In short, they were using Kohaku as a communication system. "Izuku is a fu-"

"LANGUAGE!"

Gen sighed. Sometimes Shinsou was such a pain in the metaphorical ass. Instead of replying, he outstretched his hand towards the other boy's statue. Last he checked, Ochako was single. So what was a boy doing with her? His hand turned almost ethereal, almost like a ghost. He thrust his hand into the boy's chest and took a sneak peek into his head. "Hmm. Denki Kaminari. Oh! looks like he is single too. So what was he doing with dear Ochako?". He probed deeper and went into the furthest reaches of his mind.

He was standing in an elevator. He was tapping away into his phone when the elevator stopped at one of the floors. It opened with a ding and he watched as Ochako entered. He looked and took notice of her. She was obviously going home from school, she had just taken a pit stop at the mall for some last-minute purchases. He moved to one corner, teenage shyness kicking in.

His goddaughter didn't even notice him as she stood in front of the elevator door. He stared at the slightly misty looking time on the phone and the date. It was time for the petrification to happen. Suddenly there was a commotion outside, perhaps a villain attack? Denki put his phone in his pocket as he stopped leaning against the elevator wall to run out as soon as the door opened. Suddenly the elevator shook violently. He and Ochako crouched a little as the lights flickered.

He was so scared right now, he was almost ready to piss his pants. Then the elevator plunged.

He hugged Ochako for comfort as she screamed at him and the situation. They both continued to fall as they were petrified by the green light.

Gen finally pulled out of the memory, a light sheen covering his skin just as Izuku and the rest entered the clearing. Thank God he found an electric quirk user, or else he would have been screwed. "Gen-san, thanks a lot. Who is it then?" Izuku called out as he and the group neared him.

He saw the two statues and looked at him quizzically. Gen shook his head to clear off the headache brought on from overuse of his quirk. "Actually only the boy has a strong lightning quirk. The girl has a gravity quirk, though I doubt it is useful in our present situation, still, we can't allow Kai to have her quirk" Gen completed.

“No, any ally we get is extremely useful, though we can only awaken one person so the girl is gonna have to wait,” Izuku said as he searched his bottle of nital. “I think I left it in the warehouse, I will be right back”.

“I am coming with you” Momo jogged upto Izuku. As soon as they were inside she turned to Izuku “How can you be so naive?! What if he is lying?”. She did not trust him one bit. Even in the old world, there were rumors about him consorting with all sorts of troublemakers.

Izuku smiled in response “I agree with you. But for the time being he has not made a choice. So he would logically try to make sure that both sides stay afloat”. Momo was still not convinced. “What if he  _ has _ ? What if he is just hiding stuff from us?”. Izuku stared at the ground. “Yeah you are right. Logically he has every reason for doing this. But he is more likely to gravitate towards us due to the fact that Tsukasa may kill him because he is the kind of person Tsukasa hates. So working on that assumption he is bound to be with us”.

She grabbed his arm as he turned to leave “Gen is that one person who can trick anyone in the entire world, believe me, i know. Are you sure you want to do this?”. Izuku chewed his bottom lip. “If it ever goes downhill, take Katsuki, defend the village or away with all the villagers. Whatever it takes, make sure everyone survives. Leave me to my fate”. Momo could only watch ,stunned, as he returned to the group.

They all watched as he poured the fluid over the boy’s back. The sound of the cracking stone filled the air like thunder. “For the depetrification, you only need to pour the fluid over one part of the body, the rest just cracks as a result of a chain reaction” Izuku explained as the process went on.

They watched as the stone cracked and broke apart. The sound of stone cracking filled the air like thunder. And revealed Kaminari in all his glory. Literally.

At that moment Momo came to a realization. A realization that could have come sooner had it not been for those days spent quirkless. As Kaminari flexed his body, Momo grabbed Kohaku and Suika and turned them around before they could see the inevitable. “IZUKU!”

“R -Right!” Izuku said as he removed his cloak and put it over the boy before anything could be revealed. The boy looked dazed and fell back on the ground with a groan. ‘Looks like you managed to save him’ Shinsou said, voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘Exactly how sarcastic can you even be?’ Gen asked, genuinely impressed. Seriously, exactly how could Shinsou even be sarcastic in these circumstances? ‘Sarcasm falls from my mouth as stupidity falls from yours’.

“Where am I?” Kaminari asked, a little dazed as he took in his surroundings. He did not stay awake like Izuku, Katsuki or Taiju, nor was he a pro hero like Momo. he looked around the clearing and saw Ochako’s statue lying on its side. All around him the statues, broken or intact, lay strewn around like pebbles. He saw exactly how bad the apocalypse was. “So it happened to everyone” he sighed as he pulled the cloak close around him. Izuku stepped up and offered his hand. “Hi! I am Midoriya Izuku. Nice to meet you! Help us build a generator”. Kaminari shook his hand “I am Kaminari Denki, what happened? And why do you want to build a generator?”

‘Why are these two like this?’ everyone else deadpanned.

Kaminari had just woken up in an obviously post-apocalyptic world, why was he so calm? “You are over 3700 years in the future, everyone is frozen in stone and we may or may not get murdered by a certain idealistic guy”. For exactly two seconds everything was completely still. A wind blew through the clearing, taking away some loose leaves and bringing in some dust.

“Wow, you all are… real”

“What?” Izuku asked, perplexed. “Nah, it’s nothing,” Kaminari waved them off “either way, what was it regarding the generators?” He brought them back to the topic. “Right, so the thing is that we are trying to make a generator….” Izuku started explaining to Kaminari as Momo looked on skeptically. His earlier statement was just… not normal.

\-------------------------- 

It was night. When Momo was little her mother often took her to the rooftop of their farmhouse. There the pair used to lay down and her mother used to point out the constellations for her. But now, the constellations were nowhere to be seen. She sighed. Of course, some of the star’s light comes from over 3000 light-years away, so there was no way to know whether it was still there or not. Some stars had died already, just like so many people.

“H-hi M-Momo-san! You do know that it is around 11 at night? No, wait, you can’t unless you counted?”

Momo craned her neck a little only to find Izuku walking towards her barefoot on the beach “E-either way, what  _ are _ you doing here?”. “Nothing really, just enjoying the view” she said staring at the sky. They stood side by side, staring at the sea, enjoying the view, the winds. “Did you know the earth’s axis has shifted?” Momo asked. “Y-yeah, I learnt it the hard way”

“Wait, seriously?” she looked at him a little bewildered. Izuku was the smartest person, at least when it came to science. It was a little difficult“When we were travelling to get away from Tsukasa, I realised that my position was  _ not _ what the sextant said. It was then that I realised that our axis has shifted? Izuku continued “I never realised that earth’s axis could have changed during these years. If someone asked me how much time had passed, I would peg it at over a year at most. It was really crazy in there”.

“Yeah, it really was” she nodded. They continued to stand in awkward silence. “H-how was it?”

“How was what?”

“Being a hero”

Momo rubbed the bridge of her nose. Even in the old world this was figured on ‘Ingenium’s Handbook for Young Heroes’. Whenever they used to go to nursery or orphanages, children used to ask her either this or ‘Can i be a hero?’. The standard answer to the latter question was yes, but there were always exceptions.

“Honestly it was difficult, being in the spotlight, saving people and smiling in spite of the danger. In reality it was a thankless job. You face the villains, put your life on the line only for people to demean you and point out your mistakes.”

Izuku nodded in acknowledgement. “Why did you want to be a hero?” she asked. It was really crazy for a quirkless person to even dream to be a hero because the first requirement to being a hero was a quirk. Who would like it to be known that the person saving them was genetically disabled? If anything, it would hurt their ego.

“When i was a kid, it was…. let’s say, difficult, for people to accept that I was quirkless. Some treated me like a doll, some with contempt. But I really didn’t want any of that. There were still people worse off than me. I just wanted to help them.” Izuku’s eyes shone in the moonlight, the wind blew his hair back. “S-sorry, I-I didn’t mean to be like that. I-I just got lost in my own world”. 

“It’s okay, even I do that a little”

Izuku hummed a little.“Why did you want to be a hero?”. Momo chuckled a little and gazed out at the sea “my reasons aren’t as noble as yours. I honestly just wanted to escape the family legacy” she sighed and stared at her toes. “My parents wanted me to head my company, I didn’t want that. Then Tensei came along. He offered me a way out and I took it”

“Didn’t your family stop you?”

“No, my cousin brother helped me out”

“He must have been a good person”

“Yes, Ryusui had always been there for me”

\--------------------------------------------

They all stood on top of the bald mountain looking up at the clear skies. “So I just jump up and release all my charge?” Kaminari asked as they all stood a safe distance away at the foot of the mountain. Izuku nodded towards Katsuki. Katsuki nodded and raised his arms. He released two explosions giving Kaminari the ‘go!’ signal. Kaminari jumped onto the platform and started blasting lightning at the rods.

“Are you sure this will work?” Momo asked. Sure it could work in theory, but often people fail to think of every single factor and mess up. She just hoped that it would work. Kaminari’s quirk was quite simple. He could just cover himself with an electric cloak, almost like an electric eel. When Izuku told him about his plan, he accepted it without question, and when they asked him about any drawbacks related to his quirk, he just waved them off. THAT was what she was worried about. Nobody was giving a damn about the drawback of his quirk.

If just in case, something was to happen or go wrong then they would be knee-deep in trouble. But then again she trusted Izuku if things were to go south he was bound to have a back-up plan. The entire thing should have ended in a few seconds.

Except it didn’t.

Out of everything that could have happened, they didn’t expect the inevitable. Thank god Gen wasn’t with them. Momo noticed it first. Due to those training sessions with Ingenium, her body was pretty much forced to notice the tiniest movements. She saw a dark shadow, almost like a line pass through the middle of the mountain. For two, three seconds nothing happened. Then the rumbling began. The mountain was cut in two bloody halves.

“KATSUKI!” Izuku shouted as they backed off from the mountain as debris rained down on them. Katsuki blasted to the top of the mountain as Momo grabbed Izuku by the scruff of his cloak and Kohaku lifted Chrome in a fireman lift. The group ran out of the way as chunks of rock rained on them. Momo zigzagged between the rock piles purely on instinct while Kohaku formed a clone behind her only to destroy it repeatedly, giving her 360-degree vision. “RUN!” Katsuki shouted from behind them, riding on his blasts with a crazy Kaminari in tow. “WE CAN’T OUTRUN IT!” Izuku shouted. He watched as the mountain slid almost like butter on its now smooth slope. His mind was working in overdrive. Kohaku’s quirk won’t work, Katsuki could never carry them all. In short they were all, most royally screwed.

Katsuki turned around and blasted the rock that was about to crush him. “We don’t have a choice!” he said as he threw Kaminari upwards and blasted the next rock about to crush him. ‘We can’t outrun this, we need someone to protect us. But how?’ Izuku’s mind was in overdrive. ‘There had to be a way to save everyone’. 

“WATCH OUT !”

Izuku watched in slow motion as a giant rock filled his vision, ready to crush him. Only for a man in a blue mask to destroy it. In one blow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! the plot is only going to get better from here. Tell me in the comment section who you think this new guy is.


	8. The Empire Strikes Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I promised that all questions will be answered in this chapter, but we need to build the base of the story. But I promise that in the next chapter all questions shall be answered.

The rock burst into pieces. Izuku watched as it was cut into two symmetrical halves, almost as if a knife had sliced it like butter.  _ ‘Does his quirk allow him to cut things symmetrically? Not exactly common but it still existed in some form among the population. Also it is an ability Kai would love to get his hands on. No, the rocks are not perfectly symmetrical and neither does it explain how he can fly _ ’. Twigs and grasses seemed to swirl around him like a shield.  _ ‘Wait! That’s it! His quirk allows him to control the winds. By using high pressure winds he managed to cut through the rock, almost giving the illusion of super strength’. _

__

The two rocks fell on either side of them as they beat a hasty retreat. “We’re not gonna make it!” Katsuki shouted as they swerved around a rock. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a gust of wind blew around them. “What the heeeeellll-” Katsuki shouted as the wind grew stronger and blew them off course.

The winds seemed to have a mind of their own, pickingIzuku and co up and taking them out for a spin. It encased them in a near impenetrable bubble and navigated the hail of rocks with ease. Meanwhile inside the bubble, Izuku and Momo tumbled around in the bubble. It jumped up and down as it weaved it’s way around the rocks. It flew towards a cave at the foot of the mountain and deposited them inside.

“Ughh” Momo tried hard to not vomit from the ride. ‘ _ Even Ryuusi’s rollercoaster wasn’t this bad _ ’ she thought as she held her stomach. Her vision swam in front of her. ‘ _ Okay, so we are under attack. Instead of killing us they saved us. But why save us? Are we kidnapped? So right now Kai is right here? _ ’ Her eyes went wide in realization. ‘Kai is right here!’.

“What did you do?!”

Momo sat up and looked straight ahead. Her eyes were still not accustomed to the dark. As vision slowly returned, she could make out gold and silver glint in the dark. And the voice was strangely familiar too. “Kinrou?!” she called out. Thank god there was someone from the village right here! “Kinrou you have to-“ she began. “Silence!” he shouted as they neared with arms transformed into spears. Momo raised her arms in surrender and the tip neared her throat. “Kinrou, we don’t have time for this-“ she began. “Answer me!” he shouted. Momo swallowed “Nothing, Kai is attacking the village, unprovoked”. Kinrou lowered his arms a little “Why should I believe you?”. Momo sighed ‘ _ Why did you even ask if you were never gonna believe me?! _ ’ Instead she replied with a cliché dialogue “You only have my word”.

“What good is your word?!” he shouted. His spear’s tip returned to her throat. “Okay! Okay! Fine, kill me if you want, but we are the only ones who can do anything. How about you kill us after we save the village?” She waved her arms a little. 

“I- that may be the best option,” Kinrou admitted as he lowered his spear. Momo sighed in relief. “Um- If you guys are done, can someone pull us up otherwise we may die”. Momo turned around, only to see that she was sitting at the very edge of the cave. She scrambled away a little only to crawl back. She and Kinrou grabbed Izuku’s arms and hauled him up.

“Wait! Katsuki is unconscious” He shouted as she moved to grab his other arm. Both Izuku and Kohaku were holding Katsuki’s arms while Kaminari was nowhere to be seen. They worked carefully in tandem to rescue the group. With one final heave they all collapsed in a heap. Momo was the first to recover. “Izuku, Kai has-”

“Yeah, I know” he replied as he paced around the cave. “But the question is: Is Kai here for me or the village?”. He paced around the cave as Katsuki woke up. “What the hell” he said softly as he gained consciousness.

“What. Happened?” he growled as he sat up. “Kai attacked,” Kohaku replied in a low voice. Katsuki got up without a word and marched to the mouth of the cave. “We need a plan of attack!” Izuku shouted desperately trying his best to stop him from doing something reckless. 

“I have a plan. Attack”. With that he jogged to the entrance, slowly stroking the burning rage inside him into a wildfire. This in turn caused his sweat glands to start producing sweat in excess.

**“SMACK”**

Kohaku dusted her hands after knocking Katsuki out cold. “Convincing him would have taken an insane long time. What is the plan?” she said in an even voice. Even though her voice was clear, Izuku could see the fear in her eyes. What if Kai massacred the entire village just for his goals?

\-----------------

“Gen-san?” Izuku asked. They both were standing inside Chrome’s shed as Izuku measured each and every material they had gathered so far. Gen knew that he was itching to make glass, without it they would never be able to move on to the cooler chemistry stuff. “Yes?”

“As a mentalist, what sort of person do you think Kai is?”

Gen could feel Shinsou smirk on the inside. ‘ _ I told you~ _ ’ he sang. “What do you think makes a villain dangerous?” he asked instead. Izuku turned around, one eyebrow raised. “Where did that come from?”. “Just answer it” he insisted.

Izuku sat back on his haunches “Let’s see, a villain has no training, no proper equipment. If I am being honest, then they should never win any fight. That is why a hero always wins in the end.”

“Correct. But..?”

“A villain is tenacious. He or she never gives up. They continue to fight no matter the cost. That is what makes them truly dangerous” he looked up at Gen for confirmation. Gen nodded “Then, if I believe that Kai is dangerous, that is..?” Izuku sighed

“This is bad”

“Yes, it truly is Izuku-chan~”

\------------------

“We need to know the actual situation,” Izuku said “If we make any assumptions based on zero data, then we are fools”. Momo put her hands on her hips. “So we just need to see stuff up close?” Kohaku asked. Izuku nodded as he rubbed his chin, his mind already going into overdrive.

“Look” Kohaku interrupted him with a small voice. She pointed out towards the village. Everyone gathered around the mouth of the cave and saw what had scared the lioness so much.

The Empire of Might was herding everyone into a caravan-like prison made of iron.

**“Izuku Midoriya”**

They all froze in fear as the slow drawl filled the air. In that moment everyone could feel the death in that voice. It dripped, it promised death and destruction, pain, for anyone who crosses it’s path. It was like the incarnation of death. “I can’t breathe”/ “what intense pressure!”/ “what is happening?”

**“I will skip that entire chit-chat over your surrender. You know the usual terms. Hand yourself over, in turn I will let the villagers go”**

The voice stopped speaking. Suddenly nobody felt as if they were standing at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. They all felt as their lungs could work again. Izuku crouched on the ground gasping for breath as Ginrou sank to his knees. “Everyone…” Kohaku asked

“....Where is Gen?”

\-----------------

“Asagiri Gen….” Kai called out as they walked inside the Empire of Might base. “Yes, Kai-chan” he asked in his sugary voice. Kai’s voice carried that extra edge which Gen was familiar with. It was that edge that a person had when they wanted the person in question to obey them without question. “Drop the act mentalist” he said as they walked deeper into the base.

How Kai had even managed to build this structure was beyond Gen. He had opted for a simple pyramid along with five story high walls on all sides along three watchtowers on each side. With his quirk he had managed to bypass all the construction hurdles. And that was exactly what scared him.

The fact that Kai had full control of the base and with the ability to just rearrange it… it was scary at best. “What act Kai-chan~” Gen asked even though he was shaking on the inside. Kai whirled around and looked him dead in the eye. “Cut the crap, these tricks would work on Ji-chan, not me” he sighed and continued walking.

“I know that you are going to betray me one day, so instead of the usual threatening I have decided to use another approach”. Suddenly the ground shifted beneath them and an old style elevator door emerged from the ground. “If you wouldn’t mind…” Kai said uncharacteristically courteously.

Gen stepped with a feeling of unease coiling around his chest. They sank into the ground and reached another hallway deep underground. In front of them was a heavy metal door. The giant lock turned and unlocked itself as they approached. “Tell me Gen, what are the Core Human Drives?”

Gen raised an eyebrow “If I remember my MBA course correctly, it was a theory by Maslow that reflected the universal needs of society. It is basically used to study how humans intrinsically partake in behavioral motivation. The most basic need or want is ‘physiological’, your physical needs. Then comes ‘safety’, it is sort of self-explanatory. Then comes ‘belonging and love’-”

“Yeah, exactly. Now tell me, how exactly does a ghost feel ‘loved’?”

Gen froze in his tracks. His biggest, most well-kept secret was being spoken by the most bloodthirsty man after All For One. However a mentalist never gives up until the very end “How can I know Kai-chan? Ghosts don’t even exist at least, that is what science says”. Kai marched on ahead and removed the wall behind the door using his quirk.

“Oh really? Then I doubt you would be interested in what was behind this wall”. Inside was a stone pillar that looked as if water had eroded away most of its width. It connected the ceiling and the floor. “Wow, I am really interested?” he began sarcastically but his tone changed towards the end as Kai parted the stone pillar to reveal something that blew away Gen’s mind. “I don’t really understand the exact science, but as you can see there is something truly amazing, something that only I and I alone can make”

Inside the transparent glass tube was a body. It was a clone of Gen’s original body floating in a clear transparent fluid. “I am a realist. I am no believer of an utopian future which has a zero crime rate, no poverty, blah blah blah. So naturally, neither do I expect you to not betray me. So how about a deal. You get me Izuku, dead or alive, in return I will give you this body. And don’t act like I don’t know about your quirk, I knew everything about it from the moment you walked in. So, do we have a deal?”

Gen stared at the body wide-eyed. This hypocritical society was ready to give people gene-edited babies and yet had a ban on human cloning. With human cloning so many diseases could be banished to the pages of history and yet like fools they still banned this revolutionary technique. Gen could have lived like a normal human instead of sharing a body with some fool. Maybe he could even be with Akira- no, now was not the time for that.

“I believe we do,” he said in response as they shook each other’s hands.

“It was a pleasure doing business with you Asagiri Gen”

“Likewise Kai-chan~”

\-----------------

“I bet that backstabbing bastard told Kai about you,” she said with venom dripping from her voice. “Whether he did or not is immaterial, what matters is that we drive back the invaders and secure the village’s freedom” Izuku said as he got back up.

He stood up and faced Kinrou and Ginrou “I know it sounds strange, but can you tell me about your quirks?”. Kinrou and Ginrou nodded in response “Our quirks allow us to turn our body into gold and silver respectively and we can even transform our limbs whatever way we wish”

“Those are extremely interesting quirks! I wonder whether or not you feel shock if electricity is conducted through you. Does your body only form a protective layer or is it something else?-”

“Izuku”

Izuku stopped his mumbling and faced the group “Yeah, I am sorry. So for the plan I came up with to work, we need to get Chrome back from the sea, dispel your clone please Kohaku-san” Kohaku nodded and closed her eyes. Her forehead glowed green. As soon as she opened her eyes Chrome appeared in a poof of smoke beside her. “Izuku everything worked out exactly how you said! Oh boy science is just so bad-” he stopped as soon as he noticed everyone’s grim face.

“What? And hey! Kinrou and Ginrou are actually with you. And you are not fighting? What went wrong?” he asked completely clueless. “Long story short, Kai attacked the village, we are probably the only ones who are not captured” Momo gave him the gist of everything that had happened till then. “Okay” he said “This is… bad”.

Izuku smiled “It is okay, I am sure we will be save everyone”

“The plan is something like this…..”

\------------------

**3900 years earlier**

It was raining that day. Leaning against a car stood a man in a black raincoat. In his hands was the latest holovid, he was scrolling through the latest news to see if anything caught his eye. But in reality his mind was wandering off to the person he was supposed to meet. He glanced at the clock. ‘9:58’, the man still has two minutes to show up’.

His raincoat was drenched along with his long black hair but he didn’t care. If everything went well then it would all be worth it. His eyes caught a headline from one of the several on that page. ‘Tsukasa donates $100 million for cancer research’. He rolled his eyes as he read the headline.

It was a completely good cause, cancer research, so why was everyone acting so weird for this. He sighed. If quirks could be used for some good instead of being outright banned the way they were, everything would be so much better. Diseases like cancer could be cured easily and people would not be wasting time on all this.

“Wonderful weather this evening, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but I always carry an umbrella”

The man in the mask turned towards him “My name is Overhaul. It is a pleasure to meet you Shishiou Tsukasa.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, I dare you all to guess the identity of the blue mask guy.


	9. Know your enemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first part of three part ending of this arc.

_“Momo, tell me, what is the most important part of being a hero”. Ingenium and Momo stood on the rooftop. A hero’s job was frankly thankless, the salary they got from the government was measly at best. So as compensation they were allowed to take up security contracts from private contractors._

_They were currently watching over Koko Hanabata’s rally. “Protecting people?” she asked, a little unsure. “Other than that”_

_“Keeping peace?” she said as her eyes scanned the crowd._

_“How do you keep peace?”_

_“I-I don’t know,” she said. Her 13 year old brain was coming up with too many answers and it was difficult to compress it all in just a few sentences. Ingenium smiled “It is okay, don’t overthink it. I know you are coming up with too many answers,” he sighed “The thing is, peace is always gonna be there if people are not afraid.”_

_“Then how do I make people unafraid?”_

_“Reassure them, give them hope, no matter what you do, always try your best. In the end that is what matters.”_

_The wind continued to blow, lifting her cape behind her. Then she replied. “That was cringy. Serious cringe overload” Momo deadpanned. “Hey! It is true! I swear. There has been a study….” and with that Ingenium went into professor mode._

\----------------

The village was devastated. All the huts were destroyed. Other than the priestess’s home, every single hut was blown to smithereens. Momo stared at the devastation in shock. When she had been a hero these scenes were common during rampages so she was not shocked over that. The thing that shocked her, was that they didn’t except this.

Even with all the fun and games they were still in the middle of a _war_. They didn’t know when they would be attacked, they didn’t even have any information about Kai and his group. They should have prepared for any eventuality.

This scene was all she could see from far away. Everyone stopped when they reached the bridge and turned to Kinrou. “I-I think it is best if we go in,” he said as they crossed the threshold.

They crossed the bridge and entered the village. “Momo!” Suika leapt and hugged Momo's legs. Momo knelt and hugged her, rubbing her back. “They took away everyone…” she sobbed and hid her face into her shoulder. Izuku knelt down beside Suika. “It is okay Suika-chan, I am here”

“That would be enough”

Turquoise came out with an arrow nocked in her bow. “Are you all with Kaminari?” she asked. Momo nodded slowly, was this a trick question? She sighed and lowered her bow. “It is okay, it is your friends” she called out.

**Approximately 2 hours ago**

Turquoise hid behind a rock with her bow in her hand. Their village had just been attacked by someone. Rocks rained down on them crushing the huts. She watched from her place as Magma rushed forward to fight the newcomers.

He rushed towards the man with the beak mask, pulling back his arm, which was already transforming into molten rock. The air above his arm warpped and distorted the man’s face. The man didn’t even flinch. 

As soon as Magma reached him, he shifted his head out of the way and grabbed the blond’s face. Magma’s eyes widened and Turquoise could only watch in shock as he promptly collapsed at his feet. She was about to charge ahead but then something unexpected happened. 

The air in front of her warpped as words formed out of the fog. She couldn’t make out what was written, but it didn’t matter, she couldn’t read or write. The next moment a gust of wind blew and a sphere of swirling air lowered in front of her. Suddenly it popped. She readied her bow and pointed it at the boy who came out. “WAIT! I am friendly!”

In response she shot him.

A cloak of lightning covered the boy immediately and charred away the arrow. “Look, how do I convince you, that I am friendly?” he panted. Suddenly something hit the back of her head and she lost consciousness.

**Sometime Later**

Turquoise groaned as she came to her senses. Each and every single part of her body hurt. “It’s okay, take it easy”. She was immediately wide awake and reached for her bow. Except it wasn’t there. Instead she reached towards the noise. “Wooah!”

Her vision slowly improved and she realised exactly what she was doing. She was almost going to strangle the priestess. She immediately back down, horrified at her actions. Her eyes scanned the room and saw the boy from before standing a safe distance away by the doorway.

She was about to move to fight the boy when the priestess held her back. “Turquoise-san, please!” she said “He is not our enemy, he brought you here to ensure your safety for god’s sake!”

\------------------------

“H-hey guys!” Kaminari called out as he limped towards them. His right leg had many cuts and he looked extremely tired. “Kaminari-san!” Izuku rushed forward and gave him a once over. “It is okay, I just fell down a mountain y’know, just an everyday fall” he chuckled. He shook his head “Either way, here are the rods” he gestured with his head behind him.

“Kaminari-san….” Izuku trailed off. Seriously, this guy’s loyalty was off the charts. “Why isn’t Turquoise losing her head over you?” Kinrou asked. Kaminari flipped his hair and gave them a thumbs up. “Oh! I am extremely good with the ladies”.

Izuku sighed. How could this guy change the atmosphere so quickly?! “Either way, I think you have earned your rest. We can take it from here.” Izuku said with a smile. Kaminari shook his head. “No guys….. I can……” his legs briefly gave out before he rubbed his temple. Momo fixed him with a look. “Yeah. Can definitely see that”.

“Is this how you do it?” Suika asked. She moved behind Kaminari and lightly tapped his neck. 

Kaminari immediately lost consciousness. 

_“Did we just turn this kid into a monster?!”_

Turquoise grabbed Suika’s shoulder and Kaminari’s unconscious body. “Most of the villagers were kidnapped, I know this is strange coming from people who have treated you with contempt all this time, but if possible save them” she said looking at the teens. The tension in the group grew a little at that statement. The true gravity of the situation hit them like a truck.

“Yes” Izuku whispered as Turquoise led Suika away. With the others gone they turned to each other.

“Whatever it takes”

“Whatever it takes”

“Whatever it takes”

“Do we have time for this?” Kinrou played spoilsport this time as he stared at the group.

\---------------------

The group walked on the tree branches. The forest was already quite thick in these areas so they were not that afraid of falling. They did encounter an occasional monkey or two, but they paid no heed to them, it was almost as if the animals were afraid for their own lives.

Momo effortlessly swung from one branch to another as Kinrou, Ginrou and Kohaku followed behind her.

_“As much as I would like to help, I would be useless in the current situation” Izuku said as he stood inside the cave with his arms folded. “ It would be better if you take the whole group to rescue the villagers and leave me back at the village. I would probably be able get our science equipment back up while you are at it.”_

Momo looked back further and saw the most crucial part of their plan struggle to move from one branch to another. Despite all their combined efforts to improve Chrome’s fighting capabilities he was still lacking in many areas.

_“The issue is not the freedom of the villagers, it is the escape.” Momo interjected “There are going to be many people who will want to fight back against Kai, while others will want to flee. And unless we stay together things are going to be difficult.”_

_“So the trouble is their reaction” Chrome asked. Everyone puzzled over this detail as they stood in the cave. “How about this, Chrome exactly how far do you need to be to summon something?” Momo asked. Chrome closed his eyes and concentrated hard. His hands glowed and suddenly a bottle of lacquer appeared in his hands. “I think this is my maximum”. Momo smirked, something she picked up from her father “That is more than enough.”_

**Back at Chisaki’s Camp**

Everyone was busy preparing for camp as Kai relaxed. Seriously, everyone who thought of Kai as a force of nature was a fool. Even quirks were like muscles. There were scientific formula and other issues involved during quirk use. He removed his gloves and reclined luxuriously on his hemp cushions. Even though Tsukasa was all about ‘no technology’ or ‘science is bad’, he often made exceptions for his favored subordinates, like his favorite reporter, his mentor, his right-hand man.

“Kai-san, Tsukasa is going to be mad” Hyouga called out as he picked through the camp which was bustling with activity. “Why exactly, may I ask” Kai said in that infuriatingly lazy voice. He reached the makeshift sofa Kai had made for himself and was about to sit down on the bare ground when Kai made two stone stumps rise out of the ground for him and their water flask.

Kai himself would have been partial to some wine but Tsukasa was again keeping all the good things away for the sake of ‘purity’. “How about we talk about kidnapping the entire village” he said as he poured out a glass of water for each of them. Kai drank it and felt the cool water cool his burning insides, anyone was a little partial to some water in these hot summers.

“Seriously, what do I hope to achieve out of all this?” Kai as he gestured for a refill. “Well, we will some pretty good labor and if you play your cards right, then we might strengthen our position in the empire”

Kai sighed. Why was he acting so foolish? First Gen and now this, why wouldn’t someone just be honest for once?! “Then what about food, it is the most important commodity at the present. If we keep hunting in the same regions and in such large quantities then we would quickly run out of animals to hunt exactly like our ancestors”

Hyouga drained his glass. “So they are bait?”. Kai just leaned back with a smile that was hidden behind his mask.

_"Will you walk into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly..._

\--------------------

Momo hid in the thick canopy. This tree was seriously old to have such thick branches. Kinrou and Ginrou were on another branch while Kohaku was just in front of her. Chrome was much farther away, almost at the riverbank near the village.

The rest of their plan was much simpler. Using the fleet of boats near the river, they would be able to just teleport everyone to the river and just load them into the boats.

_“Momo-san, there is another issue” Izuku called out “Just how would we be able to teleport so many people?”. Momo stopped pacing around, stumped. This was a really bad problem. They couldn’t just place them in a ‘house’, they needed Chrome onsite to mark the wagons._

_“I don’t really think it would matter” Chrome said “Hey, listen to me first. It was exactly like you said Izuku. In order to ‘summon’ I don’t need the object to be in contact with the ‘mark’ instead, it just needs to be in contact with the object which I have marked.”_

_“Yeah, that could just work. If we can mark a few tags and stick them to the wagons then it won’t really be an issue anymore. Good job Chrome!”_

Momo pulled out the pieces of leather that they had used as tags. Everyone had a couple of these with them and they were supposed to place them on top of the wagon. But there was the problem of guards.

These circumstances were completely out of their control, so they decided to cross this road when it came. But who knew the road was still under construction. “What do we do?” Kohaku asked Momo. Beside them Kinrou and Ginrou were standing on the other branch waiting for Momo to make a decision.

They didn’t know when Kai would break camp or what he would do with these people. For them every second would be precious. “There is nothing we can do but wait,” Momo whispered back. One of the first lessons she learned from Ingenium was the virtue of patience. Wait for the moment when the villain feels he is most secure, then strike.

They watched as a purple haired boy strolled by. With his hands in his pocket he spoke a few words and after a few seconds of exchange the men went away. ‘Maybe a change of guards?’ Momo thought ‘But why only one guard as replacement for at least ten? And how is the group unable to use their quirks to escape?’.

“It is okay, you can come out now” the boy called out. They all stood as still as stone. Did this kid just sniff them out?

“Look, either you can spend the whole day hiding behind that canopy, or you can always just come out to rescue the villagers” he called out again. He looked directly into Momo’s eyes. Momo hurriedly backed down, afraid. Just what was this kid’s quirk. They needed to know what they were getting into.

Going into enemy territory without any prior knowledge was almost suicidal, but they really didn’t have a choice. It was a do or die for everyone. And then the stupidest thing happened.

Ginrou walked out into the open.

Kokuyo stared up at the light restlessly. He had felt the cart move for a long time. Most of the people were asleep, either exhausted or already- no, he was not gonna think about it.

He rubbed his face as he remembered the events…

**Many years ago**

“Oi, oi, Kaseki ji-chan, what are you making this time?” Kokuyo asked good naturedly as he tried to take a sneak-peek at his latest project. Kaseki immediately hid away his half-finished project in a hurry. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have a match tomorrow?” he asked as he turned to him.

“Well, I finished my practise just now and even took a bath, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about '' he said solemnly. Kaseki wrinkled his forehead at the sudden change in tone but gave him the go ahead. He took in a deep breath and began.

“Ji-chan, you have always been a father to me” he began “you have watched as I grew up, you have watched me my entire life. Tomorrow at the tournament, if I win I would marry Daiya and become the village Chieftain. Do you think I deserve it?”

Kokuyo didn’t lack self confidence, rather he had a habit of overestimating others. “Kokuyo, look at me,” Kaseki said with a smile.

He looked up from the floor and looked at his smiling face. “You had an extremely weak quirk. Nobody expected you to even live after your birth. Yet here we are. Do you remember what Albaster used to call you?”

“Yeah” he recalled with a grimace. Kaseki continued “When you win tomorrow, there is going to be a lot of opposition. Many will rise against you. But you must not fall. You came all this way on your own strength. Stop doubting yourself.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know any ideas you want me to incorporate in the stories, or the ships. And help me improve my damn writing!


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